These Days
by c3lia
Summary: After the "marriage by knife" Sookie freaks out with all the changes in her life and leaves Louisiana. Eric feels her resolution about it and leaves to Europe where he manages to break their blood bond. Will they ever meet again?
1. This Ain't a Love Story

**I'd like to thank BloodSucker815 for her wonderful help beta-ing this story. The mistakes, though, are all mine. The characters, unfortunately, are not! I hope you'll enjoy this fanfic and please feel free to drop me a line. ****Tks! Célia**

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**Sookie "This Ain't a Love Song"**

There was a long silence between us, though the bar was at its usual noise level around Eric's table.

"Tell me the truth," Eric said, "Is it possible you came here simply to spend time with me? You haven't told me how angry you are with me that I tricked you over the knife. You realize that we are wed now, right?"

And then it hit me, and I was struck silent. _"We are wed now."_ I was married to a vampire. I was _married _to a vampire. How did I get to that place? And everything else in my life? I mean: the weres had declared me a friend of the pack for my help during their war; the vampires owed me money and favors; my great grand-father was a fairy prince, my brother a were-panther, my room-mate a witch, my ex-boyfriends were a vampire and a were-tiger, and my boss a shifter. And then there was Eric. _Eric_. I was pledged to him now, which seemed to mean that I was engaged. _"We are wed"_. No, it meant that we were married. So I ask again: how did all of that happen?

But in that moment I also realized that Eric was not only my (kind of) husband. There was something else here. _He _was something else. And when he asked if I had visited just to be with him, I noted that the answer was yes; I had just wanted to be there with him. It was the first time that I'd gone to Fangtasia simply to talk to him. No. Not to talk. Just to _be_ with him. Because I loved him. I did. And in that second, I was absolutely sure that it had nothing to do with the blood bond. I was utterly and absolutely in love with Eric Northman. _Oh_ _God._

Suddenly, I felt my heart beat increase its rhythmic and that was when Eric immediately reached over the table to take my hand.

"Sookie, are you okay? What happened?" he asked.

But I didn't answer him. I couldn't answer him. Hell, I couldn't even breathe, let alone talk. His touch on my hand was electrifying and his eyes were focused in mine. _Breathe in and breathe out, breath in and…_

All of a sudden, everything went black and I lost it.

-x-

I know that I've said before that the Stackhouses aren't of the fainting kind. And it's true! We aren't. But there's only so much a girl can take.

And Eric's question made me see the mess that my life was and my real feelings for him. The mess in my life? Yeah, I could deal with it. My feelings for Eric? Not so much. I already had my heart broken once and I almost didn't survive that. I still remembered my walk from the hospital in New Orleans to Hadley's apartment after I had discovered (well, after Eric had made Bill tell me) that I was first an assignment to Bill and just second a girlfriend. And even though I thought I loved Bill back then, now I was absolutely sure that it had only been just a little more than a crush. It was nothing compared to what I felt for Eric. And I could not, I would not, recover from a second heart-break.

So, what was the reason why I fainted? Well, it was my absolute conviction that I would die the first time I'd see Eric with another girl, feeding from her and… doing other things.

Yes, like he had said "we are wed now". But somehow, I was sure that Eric's notion of fidelity was one-sided (my side) and I would not put myself though that situation again. And by "that situation" I mean discovering that your boyfriend (husband?) was cheating on you and there was nothing you could do about it, except, maybe, cry yourself to sleep just to wake up in the morning with a head-ached to make company to your broken heart.

-x-

"She's moving Eric, she's moving." Pam's voice sounded a mix of nervous and relieved at the same time. Two seconds later I heard the door open and close and felt Eric's hand stroking my face. Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw his eyes as well. I saw the dark-blue rim around the iris and the even mix of pale blue and white rays in the iris of his eyes. _Jesus. _Eric's eyes had always been so perfect to me.

"Are you okay Sookie? How are you feeling? Do you think you can get up? Talk to me. Tell me that you are okay," he said quietly. Actually, his voice was almost a whisper. And then, suddenly, he said loudly: "Pam, get Ludwig on the phone again. Tell her that if she's not here in 5 minutes I will skin her aliv…"

"Eric, stop," I interrupted him before I added, "I'm okay. I don't need Dr Ludwig. Pam, please call her but instead just tell her that I don't need a doctor here. I'm really okay. I just…" – and then I turned my head from Pam to Eric – "I just need to talk to you."

Pam didn't move. Instead she just said "Eric?" He continued to glare at me for like a minute and then nodded to Pam. She took her clue and left the office. I could still hear the bar's music and sounds when she opened the door to leave before closing it again and I knew that I hadn't been out for long.

"Are you sure you are okay? Do you want me to take you home?"

I took a deep breath before I answered him. "No. I mean yes, I'm okay. No, I don't want a ride. I just need to talk to you."

"Very well my lover. Say what you please," Eric told me with the smallest smile in his lips.

I got up and sat on his couch. Eric sat by my side.

"I…" But then I stopped. I had only said one word, and I had stopped already. But… Well, I knew what I had to say but starting was always the hardest part; and it sure was hard. But then, somehow, I continued telling him what I needed to, "I… I know that you married me to protect me somehow. And I thank you for that. Besides, I know that we are friends and that you like me and care for me. Again: I thank you. And I must tell you that you are very important to me and that I like you very, very, very much." Oh God. I could already fell the tears behind my eyes. I looked at Eric and he had the most thoughtful face ever. I knew that these were the words he had wanted to hear from me. The "thank you" and "you are important to me" parts. But, at the same time, he felt my emotions and he knew that I wasn't finished yet. I sighed, grateful that he hadn't interrupted me and instead gave me a few moments to figure out what to say next. I touched his lips with my lips for a second giving him a silent kiss and I continued, "Yes, I like you and I know you care for me. And that's why I am going to ask you a favor." And then I stopped again. I had thought before that starting was the hardest part. But it wasn't. No. _This_ was the worst part. Not beginning. This was it. This was when I broke the tip of my heart to prevent a complete break in the middle. I took another deep breathe, I tried to muster all my courage, and then I told him about the _favor_ I was asking, "I… I need space from you. I need to leave all this behind: my house, my job, my friends, you. I need to go away and I need you to not follow me there."

"Where's _there_?" he asked immediately.

"I don´t know. I don't know anything yet. It's not here. It's not with you. It's somewhere else. All by myself."

"For how long?"

"I don't know that either. For as long as it takes." Well, it would probably take my whole life.

"And what if someone follows you there? Victor? Or Niall's enemies or…" He didn't finish the sentence. Instead he looked completely defeated. His elbows were on his knees and his head in his hands, looking in the direction of his shoes.

"I don't believe that they will. And if something happens, I'll call you so you can help me. You'd still help me, right?" I tried to smile. I failed.

"If I can," he said, sill looking at the floor.

"Okay then. Thank you for understanding." Being immortals, that is, having all the time in the world, make vampires really comfortable with staying still in silence. And so we stayed still in silence for five minutes before I couldn't handle it anymore and broke the silence, "I thought this would be very hard… to convince you to let me go, I mean."

"I am not convinced. Not at all. But I feel your resolution. I know that you have to do this. I just don't know why." Eric's head was still in his hands and his voice was a whisper.

"Either way Eric, I thank you again. I'll text Pam in a week or two with my new address," I said and that was when he looked at me, before I added "just in case."

"Pam?"

"It's easier. But Eric please…"

"I understood the first time," he said. And for the first time ever, I saw a blood tear leave his right eye. He nodded with his head, and then he added, "I will not follow you. I will only hope that you will come back. Goodbye Sookie."

And as soon as he said my name, I found myself looking at an empty sofa. He had heard me. And then he had left me there. Just as I had asked.

I picked my purse and left Fangtasia though the employees door. Even without thinking, I drove home, took a shower, brushed my teeth and I went to bed. Then, I curled into a fetal position and cried myself to sleep.

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**"These Days" is Bon Jovi's sixth studio album, released on June 27, 1995. And "This Ain't a Love Song" is the lead single from that album.**

**Jon Bon Jovi was the one who "taught" me English when I was thirteen because of my huge crush on him back then. I really wanted to understand his lyrics so I started studying the language really hard! **


	2. Cross Road

**Hello. I hope that you've enjoyed the first chapter. From now on, I'll try to write a Sookie's POV followed by an Eric's POV (and perhaps a Pam's POV once in a while). Thank you for reading. Célia**

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**Eric "Cross Road"**

Sookie had asked me the impossible, to let her be, to give her space. And I had only one reaction to it. I left. I left Fangtasia and drove home. And as soon as I arrived there, I took a long shower and then I dressed. I packed a few clothes, got my passport and some money from my safe box and then called Pam, who picked the phone at the first ring.

"Hi."

"Pam, I'm not at the bar anymore," I told her. I could hear the bar's noise in the background.

"Yeah. I noticed. Where are you? How's Sookie?" Pam asked.

"She's alright. We decided that she is leaving Bon Temps for a while. She is just human and all these… these… Well, she is just human and she should not know so much about our world. She is going away for some time. And so am I."

"Where are you guys going?"

"I will visit Ocella in Europe for a couple of weeks, maybe a month, and then I will be back. I don't know where Sookie will go. I told her to text you her next address." I answered.

"Me? Text me?"

"Yes. And Pam?"

"Hum?"

"I do not want to know where or how she is. If she is in some trouble then you call me. But only if it's serious. Otherwise, I do not want to talk about Sookie Stackhouse anymore and I do not want to hear about Sookie Stackhouse anymore. Is that understood?"

"Yes. But Eric… are _you_ okay?"

"Yes. Everything is all right. Also: contact Victor and tell him that I'm traveling and won't be available for a few weeks. I trust that you will keep everything running smooth in my absence?"

"Of course. Are you sure you are alright?" Her voice was almost trembling. Almost.

"I am Pam. And do not call me unless you really have to. See you when I'm back".

"Hey Eric?" Pam said.

"What?" I really needed to end that call. Talking about it was too painful. I just wanted to leave that fucking country and find myself again in Europe. I… I couldn't stand being in the same state as Sookie, while knowing that she wanted to be away from me. Yeah, I _really_ needed to end that phone call.

"Have a nice trip Master."

"Thank you my Child," I answered before I ended the call.

I could tell that Pam understood what had happened between Sookie and I, even thought I did not explain everything to her. And how did I know that? Well, because Pam hardly ever called me master. We were just Eric and Pam since those first thirty years in England when we pretended to be married, after I had turned her. Sometimes, she'd call me Sheriff, but never master. I knew that she had called me that when she was talking about me but I honestly couldn't remember the last time she had called me master directly. Calling me master was her way to say "I'm here for you" and I could not answer her anything other than "thank you my child".

Turning Pam was the best thing I had done in the last 500 years. She had been one of my great choices. I trusted her; she was my right hand, my friend and my family. But she was very young still and she was a woman and had once been my lover. And right then, at that moment, she was not what I needed.

Besides, Pam knew Sookie, and I was pretty sure that she knew my feelings for Sookie. If I was to talk to Pam then, she would try to convince me to follow Sookie and make things right again. Hell, Pam _would_ convince me of that. And I would follow Sookie. But I knew that I could not. Sookie's resolution was unshakable. And I could feel her strength about her decision. So, if I was to talk to Pam then, she'd make me follow Sookie. And I would follow her, but then we would argue and fight and scream at each other and I would lose it and lock her somewhere to prevent her from leaving. And then Sookie would get mad, insult me and I would get even madder and all hell would break lose.

No. It was not Pam I needed at that moment. It was Appius Livius. He would put everything in perspective. He would make me see that a human was _not_ worth of my time, let alone my feelings. He would make me _me_ again. He would give me back everything that Sookie had taken away from me with her words. _"I need space from you"_. Not "take me away from here" but instead "I don't want to be with you". Fuck! I needed to forget her. I needed to not think about her. I would not let a human girl distract me and be my final death. I wouldn't. Appius Livius. I needed my maker.

And so, I tried the last number I had had from him when he had called me three years before from Spain. But, obviously, it was unconnected. _Figures_. Either way, I knew that he was still in Europe and I was sure that I would find him. And then I realized that it was almost 4 am in the States, so Ocella was probably already dead for the day in Europe. But it didn't matter. I knew that the next night, as soon as he would wake up, he would feel me.

And that was why, after I tried Ocella's unconnected number, I then called Anubis Airlines, and I booked a flight to Spain. I'd be taking a 9 am flight to Dallas and then a 2 pm flight to Madrid.

And I was just ending that phone call when I decided that I'd rather die for the day in Anubis' terminal then tell them where my place was, so I drove there. And as soon as I arrived, I checked my bag and they showed me my travelling-coffin in a room with ten others. I looked at my watch and I noticed that I still had time until dawn. But I did not want to risk meeting anyone there so I got inside, closed my eyes and thought about my maker. Or rather, I tried to think about my maker, so I would not think about Sookie Stackhouse.

And then, it was day, and I was dead.

When I woke up, we were already 1500 miles into the Atlantic and I immediately felt that Appius knew that I was going to meet him. And even though I didn't need to, I breathed deeply before I exited my coffin. There was an employee at the door, and he showed me to my seat and got me a Royal Blended O Positive. And luckily, there was no one at my side and I managed to spend the rest of the flight drinking, looking out the window and trying to close my blood bond with Sookie. It wouldn't be easy, but I would try.

I took another unnecessary deep breathe. And despite the distance that was increasing between us, I could still feel her. And I could tell that she was sad and nervous, but that her resolution continued strong and she was also happy to carry on with what she had decided. She really wanted to be away from me.

And then, for just a few seconds, I pondered meeting the sun because being without her was painful. However, as soon as those thoughts and feelings were born in my mind, others appeared too: pride to be a vampire, survival for more than a thousand years and the absolute certain that a vampire must not crumble before a human.

And then I tried harder to block the bond.

It would take some time but I'd do it. I just needed my maker's help. Ocella's 2000 year old blood would give the strength that I needed to block Sookie out of my mind and my life. And then I'd get back to where I belong: being the proud vampire that I was.

And, then and there, flying over the Atlantic, I vowed to myself that I would not let anyone else "humanize" me like Sookie had done. I'd go back to the no-feelings, tough mother-fucker I was before Sookie had showed up and defanged me. I wouldn't worry or think about her. Never again! Yes, I'd go back to the no-feelings, tough mother-fucker I was. I'd go back to my worst.

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**The next chapter will be a Sookie's POV. She'll be saying goodbye to her friends in BonTemps and leaving Louisiana. So, where do you think she should go? Tell me your thoughts and please review! Tks for reading! célia**

"**Cross Road" is a greatest hits compilation released by the American band Bon Jovi in 1994. Yes, it's almost 20 years old but it's still a great album! **


	3. Runaway

**Here's chapter 3. This chapter is somewhat small, but I promise that I'll keep adding more details with each chapter. This is my first fanfiction, and I'm still "learning" the ropes of it. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this****! Célia**

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**Sookie "Runaway"**

It had been ten days since I had gone to Fangtasia and had last talked to Eric. True to his word, he hadn't called me or tried to contact me since that night.

Pam, on the other hand, showed up at my place first dark the next night (I had spent the day in my bedroom crying). She wanted to know what had happened because Eric wasn't his normal self. And I explained. I told her that I was afraid to be in their world and that I needed to be by myself for a while.

"I don't want to end up dead or undead Pam. And we both know that that's what's gonna happen to me if I don't leave. I just… I just need to leave for some time," I said. What I didn't tell her, was that "some time" probably meant a few years. At least!

She then started asking about Eric and our bond and our marriage. But I simply answered her that Eric was my friend and that, in that capacity, he had understood my needs and he had acquiesced (word of the day, sometime last summer) with my desire to be left alone. She insisted, obviously. She said that they could protect me and that I was needed there. After almost forty minutes though, Pam too understood that I wasn't going to change my mind. And after I had promised to keep in touch, to tell her my new address and to call the second I thought I was in trouble, she kissed me goodbye and left.

And then, for the second night in a row, I went to bed without dinner and cried myself to sleep.

The next day, however, I woke up feeling adventurous and somewhat happy that I was still going according to plan. I had my breakfast, dressed and went to Merlotte's. My conversation with Sam was hard, and I felt really sad when he told me that he wasn't just losing his best waitress but his best friend as well. Yet again, I explained that I needed to change my life and meet new people (new _living_ people) and I promised to call often. I left Merlotte's with tears in my eyes and unable to talk to my _ex-_coworkers. I'd be back before I left though.

Next on my list was my brother. And so, that same day, I met him for lunch and I told him about my plan to just leave. Unpredictably, Jason agreed with me and told me that I was right leaving Bon Temps and all the mess in my life. And you know what? My big brother even said that he would take care of Gran's house for me, maybe even rent it and send me the money left from property taxes and insurance fees. "You deserve some peace sis. And I'll help you from here," he said. And after lunch, we kissed goodbye, and we said that we'd meet again for lunch at Gran's next Saturday. And right then and there, I decided that I would cook him all his favorite food.

After lunch, I met Tara at her shop and she was as supportive as Jason. After her Franklin-Mickey episode, she could only encourage me to leave "all those bloodsuckers" (as she called the vampires) behind and live my life. I left Tara's Togs at 4pm and I drove to Monroe because I had called Claudine that morning and we had agreed to meet at the mall there.

Half way through our meeting, both Claude and Niall showed up and it was obvious that they already knew my plans. Claudine had probably called them in some silent-secret-Fay-mental-telephone way. Or something. But even thought I was surprised to see them there, I was happy to be able to say goodbye to them both. I left almost two hours later thinking that it was really odd that neither Claude, Claudine nor Niall had tried to change my mind, like Pam had. And that neither of them had also said that it was the right call to leave, like Jason and Tara had. They just accepted it was _my _choice. And I was grateful for that. As others before, they made me promise to keep in touch.

I used the fact that I was at the mall to by a new suitcase and some other things that I'd need for my impending move. And so, when I got home later that day, it was already past sun-set and I wasn't surprised to see Bill at my doorstep. I asked him inside, offered him a True Blood and for the last time that awful day, I explained that I was leaving. Bill listened to me, wished me good luck and then asked for my forgiveness. I answered him that I had already forgiven him for "Lorena and everything" (meaning: all the lies and the time when he had almost drained me to death).

"No Sookie, that's not it, I'd like you to forgive me for the fact that I met you and introduced you to all these people you are running away from. I am really sorry I showed up at Merlotte's that first night," he said. I slowly moved into his direction and I kissed his cheek, right before I told him that everything was forgiven and forgotten. Bill then put his arm around me and we sort of hugged while I thanked him for the good friend that he was. As with everybody else, I promised to call often and then I properly hugged Bill with all my strength.

When he left, I walked with him to the cemetery so I could say goodbye to my grandmother as well. When we arrived at her tomb, Bill kissed my forehead, he said that he loved me still and then left me there with my lamp. I talked to my Gran for nearly an hour before I went home. I made a cheese grilled sandwich and I had dinner watching TV. And then something great happened because when I went to bed, I didn't cry. I just read a few chapters of my book and then I slept hugging my pillow.

I spent day number three AD (After Decision) boxing everything. There were a few boxes with things I wanted to keep with me (my Gran's quilt and some old bed linens, Gran's jewellery, old photo books, my clothes and a few other things like that). But most boxes were labelled "red cross" or "garbage" instead.

And that night, I didn't cry either.

The next day Amelia showed up. She had been staying at Tray's almost every night for the past month and she was actually shocked when I told her that I was leaving. An hour later, however, she was also packing her own stuff and saying that that was the "push" she needed to stay with Tray definitively. I insisted that she could stay there even without me, but she just answered that Tray really wanted her to move in with him. And in her mind, I also heard that _she_ wanted that as well.

Amelia left my home on the next night with all her clothes, TV, computer and everything else packed in her trunk and back seat. She was excited to be officially moving in with Tray and I prayed that my friend would be happy in her new life. We hugged and we promised to stay in touch between smiles. However, after I waved Amelia down the driveway, the broad smile dropped from my face. And that was when I sat on the porch steps and I cried.

The next week was spent boxing my things and searching for a new home and job. I had decided that I would stay more or less close (I wouldn't be moving to Oregon or Washington, that was for sure) and so, Cleveland, Tennessee was my choice. Sam had a were friend there with a restaurant and I was already promised a job. Finding a place to live wasn't hard either and I managed to find a nice furnished one-bedroom apartment down town in the internet (at least, the photos were of a nice furnished one bedroom apartment down town).

Two days before my departure there was a Sookie's Farewell Party at Merlotte's and I was wished good-luck and managed to say goodbye to all my friends. Later that day, when it was dark, even a few vamps showed there: Bill and Pam, obviously, but also Dahlia and Clancy. I had wanted to ask Pam about Eric since that last night I had been to Fangtasia, and being with her was making it harder to not ask. But luckily, I managed to fight that compulsion, and I didn't even say his name.

And on the day after my Farewell Party, I managed to finish packing and then I put everything in my car. And later that day, I slept for the last night in my (now empty) home.

I left Bon Temps very early on the next morning. And even though the drive to Tennessee was hard and long, I managed it. And a week and a half after my talk with Eric, I was able to feel accomplished because I had achieved my goal.

Now I just had to forget him and start living again.

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**So? What did you think about this chapter? Next: Eric meets Ocella.**

**"Runaway" is a Bon Jovi song, written in 1980 and originally recorded in 1981. **


	4. Bad Medicine

**First of all, I'm sorry for the delay updating this chapter: computer problems. Secondly, I'd like to thank BloodSucker815 for her help beta-ing this. But all the mistakes (unlike the characters) are mine. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please feel free to drop me a line. Tks! Célia**

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**Eric**** "Bad Medicine"**

As soon as we landed, I turned on my phone and heard a message from Pam saying that Appius Livius had called Fangtasia and she had given him my cell phone number. She also added that he was in Lisbon now and gave me my maker's new address. "He sounded happy to know that you are going there. But he's not alone. There is this new person there with him and… He said there were some problems… Just be careful Eric." A pause and then she continued. "Well, have a nice time there. Bye."

It was almost dawn when we landed that night and I decided to check into a vampire hotel for the day, after I booked another flight for the following night. My dinner was a lovely brunette. And as soon as I saw her long legs, I thought about having sex with her but the sun was almost up and I wasn't really in the mood.

The next night, I took a flight to Portugal and saw my maker for the first time in a little more than 40 years. We hugged and then he told me in my native tongue that I was welcome at his home and that everything would be alright. Hearing his voice made me fall to my knees and hug his waist. He then brushed my hair, called me his child and I could not prevent bloody tears from falling down my face. At his "get yourself together and come", I immediately rose, cleaned my face and followed him inside. There were one woman and one man inside and I was offered both. I immediately drank from the male and they soon left the house. Ocella and I sat and then we spent the next five hours talking about old friends and how the Great Revelation had been working out for us. He asked about Pam and felt my pride when I told him about her help in the last few years. And at dawn, we died for the day.

There was still much to talk about: his other child and the problems Pam had told me about, my blood bond with a human and Ocella's maker's death 30 years before. But neither of us wanted to talk about those matters and so we started this routine for the next two weeks: wake, feed (there was always a couple of humans ringing Ocella's door at 9 pm sharp), fuck (once with each other but usually with our dinners) and then meet some of Ocella's "old school" friends.

Back in the US, I am almost always the oldest vampire by centuries. But in Lisbon, in the old continent, most of the vampires I met were at least 800 or 850 years old and many were even older than me.

The Great Revelation meant little to them. They have their ways and they'll keep them forever. They still glamour every human they drink from, sleep in coffins (even if dark, light-proof rooms are available) and a couple are even proud to say that they sleep in the ground. And they will keep doing that perpetually. Besides, they don't work because they've accumulated so much money during their long existence and have been "using the same family name for generations" – every 30 years or so, they "officially die" and start using the identity of their made-up child, thus inheriting their own inheritance. This means living around highly-glamoured humans and staying in the same region for decades and decades at a time. I, on the other hand, love to start fresh in some place new from time to time.

But being with Ocella and those really ancient vampires was helping me to come back to the vampire-way. And besides, it was not that they treat humans badly. In fact, they are quite careful drinking just a bit of blood and fixing the bite wounds. And not one of them has a human-pet. Instead, they pay people for their services and then glamour them into thinking that they actually did the service they were hired to do – private teachers, carpenters, etc. They do not believe in sharing their lives with humans or even shifters or weres. They are absolutely sure that we are better than the human kind.

And their company was exactly what I needed.

-x-

After those two first weeks, Ocella and I finally talked. He told me about his new, almost 100 year old, child and the fact that he had no manners and killed indiscriminately.

"On the day I felt you were coming, I was really happy that I'd be with you again. Alexei, obviously, did not like it and misbehaved again. He's now in a coffin bounded in silver. I'll leave him there for a couple of months. But I fear…"

"What Ocella?"

"I fear that if there are other incidents, I'll have to finally kill him."

To have to kill a child. To have to finally kill your child. Wow. We stayed without talking or moving for an hour. But then it was my turn and I told him everything about Sookie. I could tell Ocella was shocked and a little ashamed of my actions and my feelings. But true to form, he just said "I see".

Again, we didn't speak or move for almost 40 minutes. And then: "You should close the bond."

"That's what I have been trying to do. But it's too strong. We exchanged blood too many times and then there's the…" I didn't finish my sentence.

"Feelings." He added, looking at me. I immediately looked at the floor.

"I'll help you. I'll give you my blood for as long as it takes. And then you will close the bond. She won't feel you. You won't feel her. It's the best for both." I nodded and he continued: "You'll break the bond. And then you'll forget her in no time Eric."

"Yes. Thank you. I will."

Two attractive brown-haired girls rung Ocella's bell then and we let them in. Ocella chose first, obviously, and he picked the tallest. And so, I was left with a small woman with a tanned, flawless skin that seemed to almost glow in the dim light. Her eyes were almost black, her long dark hair was straight and she was smartly dressed. Yes, a pretty face and a great body. She was hot. Damn hot.

She was already glamoured by Ocella when I drank her average blood. But after I closed her bite wounds I undid her glamour and began to seduce her. In 15 minutes, she was willingly under me, in my bed, screaming something in Portuguese too fast for me to understand. But I did understand her moaning: she liked it rough and I did as she wanted.

She orgasmed quickly and I followed her. And for the first time in Lisbon, when I came, I actually saw the brunette that I was fucking instead of a voluptuous Louisianan blond girl. My next thought was clear in my mind and I suddenly felt pretty sure of myself: "_yes, Ocella is right. I'll break the bond. And then I'll forget her in no time. In no time."_

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**So, will he be able to break the bond? Will he forget her? And how will Sookie react if Eric indeed breaks their bond? What do you think? What would you prefer?**

**"Bad Medicine" is a number-one single by Bon Jovi. It was released in 1988 as the lead single from the band's album New Jersey.**


	5. Livin' On a Prayer

**Hi. So here's chapter 5 and let me tell you it was hard to write!... Some of you are saying that you don't like this Sookie 'cause she left Eric. Others, tell me you think Eric is moving on too quicky. So I must ask for your pacience... Keep reading and let me know what you think, ok? ****As before, i thank BloodSucker815 for her help betaing this. Oh, and again: the characters aren't mine... I wish they were; but they are not! ~Célia**

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**Sookie "****Livin' on a Prayer"**

I woke up that morning and felt that I couldn't breathe. My head started spinning and I then recognised the symptoms from my last visit to Fangtasia almost two months before. It was a panic attack so I forced myself to be calm. It was Eric. Or rather: it was Eric's absence. And in that second, I realised that I couldn't feel him. I couldn't fell the bond.

Ten minutes later I was still trying to calm myself while I wondered what had happened to him. I made up my mind and I decided to contact Pam. I would call Eric instead; but I never got his cell phone number. Somehow, I always ended up calling Fangtasia when I needed to speak to him. And when he stayed at Gran's house, he didn't have a cell phone. So I settled on calling Pam – she had given me her cell phone number when I moved to Tennessee.

I knew it was daytime and she was dead but I called her nonetheless and I left a voice message: "Pam, hey, it's Sookie. Listen: can you feel Eric? Can you? Please tell me you can fell him and everything is alright. Please call me the second you wake up, will you? The second you wake up. Thanks".

I ended the call and stared at my cell phone for a while. And then I thanked God that it was Monday and the restaurant was closed and I started praying that Eric wasn't dead. Finally dead.

I could still remember my Gran's words when the vampires came out of the coffin "I don't think that God would have any problems with a vampire as long as he is a good person." And then I prayed even harder for her words to be true and for God to keep Eric free from harm. Deep in my heart I knew that I wouldn't forgive myself if Eric had found his death in Europe. So I just kept praying and asking God for Eric's well-being.

As soon as it was dark my phone rang, and I heard that my prayers were answered.

"Hey Sookie." Pam´s voice sounded normal.

"Is Eric okay Pam? I can´t feel him. Is he okay?" My voice, on the other hand, couldn't have been more anxious.

"Calm down Sookie. Eric is alright. I heard from him yesterday. He called me to tell me that he's extending his vacations in Europe. _Again_. And I'm pissed. He's there taking it easy and having a good time and I'm left here with all the work. It isn't fair."

"Yesterday? But what if he met the sun this morning? Do you think he's okay? Can you fell him Pam? Can you feel him now? At this very moment?"

"Yes Sookie, I can. The thing is..."

"Well, I can't. Please Pam, please, grab your cell and call him again and listen to his voice. Is it possible that something happened to him and you didn't feel? Is it? Please Pam, call him and listen to his voice, okay? Or better yet, give me his number and I'll call. Please, give me his cell phone number. What if something happened and you didn't feel? Is it possible? Just call him. Please Pam, please." I realised then that I was talking in warp speed but I was sure that Pam understood me in spite of that.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'd feel it."

"But I couldn't feel him today. All day. Please can you just give me his cell phone number and I'll..."

"Stop Sookie. Calm down." She interrupted me. "That was what I was trying to tell you. He is okay. Nothing happened. And I can still feel him."

"Didn't you listen?" The fact that she was still calm was really bothering me. "I told you that I can't feel him Pam. I can't feel him. Is it possible that something happened to him and you didn't feel? Is it? Is it?" I couldn't figure the reason behind Pam's reaction. Or her non-reaction. Eric was his maker. I was sure she should care more about him. She should be worried. Why was she reacting like she didn't care? Oh my God. Maybe Pam knew that Eric was finally dead but she didn't want to tell me that for some crazy reason. But why? Why? I really needed to be sure. I had to try to contact Eric. I suddenly felt the huge size of my mistake. I should never have left Louisiana. I should never have left Eric. I... I... I had to try to contact him. "Please Pam. Give me his telephone number. I just have to talk to him. I beg you."

"Sookie, stop." She interrupted me again. "As I was saying: he's okay. I can still feel him. He just closed his bond to you. That's why _you_ can't feel him".

What? He did what?

"Ohh... But how? Why? I thought that only the passage of time would weaken the bond. And that ours was as strong as you can get..." My words were much slower and my voice was much lower than before.

"Yes, that's true. Except for really old vampires. And Eric is definitively old and he most likely has been drinking his 2000 year old maker's blood to help him closing the bond. That's the how. As far as the why he did it is concerned... Well, I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. Well, scrap that, your guess is probably much better than mine."

He closed the bond. He closed the bond? Suddenly, I was feeling that I couldn't breathe again. But somehow I managed to answer.

"Ahh... Thanks for telling me. I'm sorry to have you calling me in such a hurry." My voice was even lower now, almost a whisper.

"It's alright my telepathic friend. And how are you tonight?"

"Happier now that I know that Eric is fine. So, I'm alright." I was not. I was feeling awful. I had to end the call and have a few minutes think about all this. Eric closed the bond. He actually closed the bond. "Look Pam, I have to go. Call me in a few weeks?"

"Sure. Be well Sookie"

"You too Pam."

I went to the kitchen and start making something to eat because I hadn't left my bedroom the whole day. I had just stayed there praying.

A cheese and ham grilled sandwich later, I was still thinking about Pam's words and their meaning. Eric deliberately met his maker in Europe so he could help him close the bond he shared with me. I felt terribly sad, naked and empty inside. But at the same time, I was relieved that he was okay and I understood that he was only giving me the space I asked. _"I need space from you."_ This was my fault. This was my entire fault. I had made a terrible mistake and now I was paying for it.

Without really thinking, in an almost zombie-like trance, I cleaned the kitchen and then went to take a shower. I was drying my hair when I told myself in the mirror: "He's alright, he's alive and he's in Europe living his life. And that's what you wanted and it is time for you to do the same. Carry on with your life. Make it work." My mirror image nodded her head and I smiled to her. She smiled at me back. And in that moment, with the hair dryer in my hand, I decided to accept my new boss' invite for dinner and a movie on the following Sunday.

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**Ok. I did it. I (well, with Ocella's help) broke their bond. Any thoughts? And what about the "dinner and a movie" with the new boss? Is it too soon? Will she be able to date someone else? Do you want to see them both getting over this relationship? Or do you think that bond or no bond eric and sookie belong together?**

**"Livin' on a Prayer" is Bon Jovi's third single from their Slippery When Wet album. "Ohh! We're half way there. Oh-oh. Livin' on a prayer! Take my hand and we'll make it  
I swear! Oh-oh! Livin' on a prayer. Livin' on a prayer." :)**


	6. Who Says You Can't Go Home

**So… Here's chapter 6. I tried to make it somewhat bigger and I'll keep trying to include more and more details. Again, I want to thank BloodSucker815 for her help beta-ing this story. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Cheers from Portugal, Célia**

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**Eric: "Who Says You Can't Go Home"**

First of all, being with those old beings and being with my maker helped me a lot. Secondly, as a Mediterranean country, most women in Portugal had dark brown hair (that is: very few blonds and even fewer natural blonds) which helped a lot too, I am ashamed to confess.

And in Portugal, vampire's rights were already in their Constitution. The thing is: when we came out of the coffin, only France, the UK, Canada, Japan and the US recognized us and gave us Constitutional Rights. But in the last three or four years though, most countries of the European Union recognized our civil liberties (meaning: they wanted us to be kind of controlled and they wanted us to pay taxes), including Portugal.

And all that freedom to be myself was the reason why that time in Lisbon was great. And besides, there was also lots of great blood in pleasant packages chosen by Ocella, awesome conversations with experienced vampires (absolutely no-one under the 800 year old tag), a couple of nice girls to fuck each week, and lots of theater, cinema and other shows.

Ocella's other child was freed every couple of months before being locked back up again because he'd usually kill someone (which Ocella covered up while saying "next time, I'll stake him"). Consequently, he was just a little distraction once in a while.

And, as a result, my "a couple of weeks visiting Ocella" suddenly transformed into six months.

But then the winter was over and the days started to be longer there. In Portugal, between April and September the nights are quite shorter than the days and for a vampire that means: move! And so, later that year, Ocella told me he and some friends were moving to England. I thought about moving there with them because I loved England. But the country reminded me of Pam and my responsibilities back in Shreveport. I immediately thanked my maker for his hospitality and decided to go back to Louisiana. That same night I was on a plane.

I landed in Shreveport at 10 pm and called Pam who took her time to pick up the phone. Actually, I got her voice-mall. But 20 seconds later, she called me back.

"Eric! Glad you called. How are you?"

"What were you doing Pamela that you didn't answer my phone call? Or better yet: who were you doing?" I said in a loud voice and laughed. The taxi driver looked at me through the mirror and smiled.

"I was just meeting a friend at a coffee shop. Look Eric, I'm glad you called. I needed to talk to you. There's this new business opportunity about franchising Fangtasia and I've seen the numbers. It has potential Eric and maybe we… Wait. I feel you. You're here? Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to Fangtasia. Where are _you_? Should I meet you? Meet your friend that you weren't doing? Maybe _I_ can do her."

"No. She's gone already. I'll meet you at Fangtasia. No. Not Fangtasia. Go to my place. We'll talk there. I want to take a shower first. Then we'll talk. There's much to say. Bloodbath opened last month but it's already as popular as Fangtasia. You have to go there Eric. The place is awesome. And closer to my house than Fangtasia."

"Okay Pam. I'm on my way."

"Oh, and Eric?"

"Yep?"

"I'm really glad you're back."

"Me too."

I closed my phone and told the driver the new address. Pam was strange on the phone. Almost nervous. But I decided to not think about it and just enjoy the view from my window. Shreveport wasn't definitively an old European city like Lisbon, Barcelona, Vienna or Rome. And it was not like my birthplace either with cold winds and lots of snow. But after a decade or so it had become an important place for me. Almost like home. I liked to think that it was because I was there during the Great Revelation. It was there that, for the first time, in more than 1000 years, I was able to be myself. To be a vampire. But I feared that the true reason was Sookie. Either way, I stopped thinking about it and just enjoyed the trees, the houses, and the smell. In 15 minutes, I was at Pam's and made myself at home even though she hadn't arrived yet. I was at her computer in her office room checking my email when Pam arrived.

I felt her passing at vampire speed in front of the office room's door and then heard the water in the bathroom and Pam's voice: "I'm just taking a shower. Two minutes". I immediately met her in the bathroom and knew the reason behind her need to shower. Pam was taking off her coat and shoes when I said: "I've smelled her on you already. But I don't want to smell her anymore. Take your time."

"I didn't know you were here. Or that I would be with you tonight. She was back in Bon Temps, visiting her friend, who had twins last week and I just…"

"It doesn't matter. Shower. Change. And then we'll talk. I want to see about that franchising opportunity. Do you have some analysis about it?"

"Yeah. My desk. Second draw on the right side."

I went back to her office room and pulled out the business plan. I focused on it. Pam was right. It was a good business opportunity. I read the executive summary and the market strategies, I paid attention to the competitive analysis and the operations and management plans, as well as the financial components. Mainly, I tried hard to not think about Sookie.

Ten or fifteen minutes later, Pam was back. "So? What do you think? Have you seen the estimated start-up costs and both the cash flow and balance statements? There's a balance sheet on the last page." Pam said. And then I looked at her. Wet hair, jeans and t-shirt and a little too much perfume. Definitively non-Pam. The "little too much perfume" I knew why. But the jeans and t-shirt?

"What's with your clothes?"

"I thought I'd show you Deadliest as well. The construction work has been taking too much time. You know: we were supposed to open both Bloodbath and Deadliest at the same time but there were a few problems with the construction permits. And I've already ruined two shirts there. I'll change again at Bloodbath."

Then we looked at a few more analysis and graphics. It was a good business opportunity and we could make a lot of money with a relatively little investment and some effort. But all I could think about was Sookie. Since I had closed the bond, and with Ocella's company, it had been easy to forget Sookie. I was myself again in Europe. But in Shreveport, and after I smelled her on Pam, it was really difficult to prevent my mind from wondering about Sookie Stackhouse. But I tried my best and just focused on the moment. And that's why, at Pam's, I just thought about the numbers in the business plan. And then, at Deadliest, I just thought about the problems with the construction. And finally, at Bloodbath, I just focused on the people there and the bar. Pam was right. The place was amazing and the long queue at the front showed its popularity.

"And with you here now? Wow! Bloodbath will be huge! Come! Let me introduce you to the staff". And so I meet the twelve humans that were working there. "There are four more but it's their day off tonight. I also brought Indira and Dahlia to work here. They are moving their things out of your office right now. There are three rooms in the back and they've both been using the bigger one, which is yours now, obviously."

As on cue, Indira and Dahlia showed up before me "Glad you're back Sheriff" and then a bow. We talked for a few minutes while I checked my consumers, my staff and my new bar and then Pam showed me the back rooms. My office was impeccably clean, organized and full of my stuff. I immediately felt at home.

"You hungry? Did you see someone you liked or want me to choose something for you?"

"The black haired one. The one with the big green eyes. What was it? Maria? Tell her to lose the lipstick though before she comes here."

Five minutes later the beautiful thing entered my room looking at the floor.

"You can look at me." Her eyes met mine and her heart rate immediately increased. "You have beautiful eyes Maria." A smile appeared in the face. "And a nice smile." I heard another heart rate increase.

"Thank you master."

"You can call me Eric here."

"Thank you Eric."

"Will you let me taste you Maria?"

"Of course sir, I mean Eric." She said while moving next to me. I tapped on my leg and she sat on my lap. Her heart was beating very quickly and it was great.

"Are you nervous Maria?"

"Yes sir. A little. I'm sorry."

"Don't be!"

And then I started kissing her neck and grabbing her breasts over her top. Her heart rate was still very quick but I could feel her relaxing as well. I bit her and drank two mouth fulls. I then smelled her arousal and I immediately got up, bent her on my table, dropped her shorts and my trousers and started fucking her. She wasn't very vocal but with my vampire senses I could hear her moaning. We both came easily and afterward we started putting together our clothes.

"Come here. I want to close your bite wounds properly." With blushing cheeks, her eyes were even greener. I licked her neck in a lazy way.

"Thank you." She said.

"No. Thank _you_ Maria." I replied. "Off you go now." Still smiling, she surprised me by kissing my cheek and left the room.

Pam came back 10 minutes later.

"So? How was she? Maxwell has tasted her twice and said she was great. But no one has had sex with her yet. The little thing is quite shy."

"Yes, she's tasteful. And has nice breasts. She's quiet thought. But she has nice eyes and a pretty smile."

"You should see her smile now after you had her. She's going to get lots of tips tonight. That's for sure." Pam paused for a few seconds and then added: "So…"

"So…" I repeated.

"You want to sit at the front? Or would you rather go home? Or do you want to talk to me about something? About _someone_ maybe?"

I surrendered to my curiosity. "How is she Pam?"

"She's fine. In Tennessee. She's a waitress as before. And for a were-bear if you can believe! But there is no drama. No boyfriend. She's been dating her boss, but they just hold hands and…"

I couldn't hear Pam talking about Sookie's dates, so I interrupted her: "Does she have money? Is she lacking anything?"

"No. She's all right. Her house in Bon Temps is rented and she gets enough money at the restaurant. It's not like she's rich or something but she isn't lacking anything either."

"Do you meet her often?"

"We talk on the phone every couple of weeks or so. But tonight was actually the first time I have seen her since she moved. It's the first time she has been back too. Look Eric, I'm sorry I smelled like Soo…"

And I definitively couldn't hear her name as well. I interrupted Pam again: "But is she okay Pam? Is she happy?"

"I wouldn't say happy. She's content. She asked about you tonight. Sookie told me…"

It was too hurtful to hear about her. I needed to end this conversation and so I did. "That is enough Pam. That is everything I wanted to know. Do not tell me anything else about her. And I'd rather if you didn't meet her again. I'm not saying that you can't. But I would rather if you did not."

"Okay Eric. But if you want to know anything else…"

"I'll ask. Thank you Pamela. I think that I will go home now."

"A maid has been cleaning there every week so the place should be all right. She's been glamoured so there's no risk. There's also True Blood in the fridge as well".

"Thank you Pam."

"I'm glad you're back Eric."

"I know. Me too. We'll talk tomorrow. I want to see Fangtasia tomorrow. Let's met there at 10 pm."

I kissed her forehead and then I moved out of there. I left my bags at Pam's. She would make sure that they would be delivered to me. I flew home. As soon as I arrived, I took a long shower, watched TV and then went to my room almost an hour before dawn, thinking about Sookie. _"She's okay"_, Pam said. She has a new house and a new job. She wasn't attacked or hurt in the past six months. She is okay. And I should be as well.

So I decided: no more Sookie; no more worrying about her; no more thinking about her. Yes, definitively, no more thinking about her. No. More. Thinking. About. Sookie. Fuck. Whenever I think that I should forget her, I keep remembering.

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**So… Eric's back and he's still thinking about Sookie. But they are two states away from each other, there's no blood bond and she's been (kind of) dating her boss. So what happens now? Would you rather that he goes after her to Tennessee or do you think that **_**she**_** should be the one coming back to Eric? Or, third hypothesis: they each live their life? And what do you guys think about a Pam's POV? Would you like that?**

**"Who Says You Can't Go Home" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora for the rock band Bon Jovi's ninth studio album Have a Nice Day (2005).**


	7. Dont Keep Me Wonderin'

**Hi everybody! I'm sorry it took so long to upload this chapter! Real life got in the way. But I promise I'll post chapter 8 this week (Friday or Saturday). I'd also like to ask to all Eric's fans (in advance): please, don't hate me! And please keep with me! This is ultimately an Eric&Sookie story! I'm just an angst-lover and I thought about creating a new problem for them. And that problem is the nice boy (I mean: were-bear) David! **

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**Sookie "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'"**

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she replied.

I paused in the act of tying my shoe to watch what happened next: the vampire, in her black night dress, and the human man, in his tuxedo, were kissing at last, as the music increased, the camera showed the whole beach at night and the credits started rolling.

I switched off the television and tied my other shoe, shaking my head at America's new addition to Hollywood: the vampires! Not as a character as in the Twilight books or in Bela Lugoci's Count Dracula movies, but rather as actors and actresses as well. They were in every movie and TV show nowadays. And I hated it.

After two years in Tennessee, I didn't think about Eric as often as before, but I still thought about him quite often (well, if I'm being serious, I still thought about him too much) and I didn't need any more reminders that there were vampires out there, including former Vikings.

But thinking about Eric was manageable now (that is: I didn't crawl into a fetus position anymore). Actually, I was now perfectly capable of thinking about him, smiling at that period of my life and keep functioning. Well, most of the time. Once in a blue moon, I still had a little panic attack.

The last one was eight months ago when I dreamt that Niall had visited me to tell me that fairies were going to kill Eric that morning. In my dream (or rather, in my nightmare), I was at my parents' house, in my former childhood bedroom and I begged him to leave Eric alone. At first, he said that Eric had to die, but after a while, when he was about to give in to my plead, his cell phone rang. Niall read his text message and then he told me "It's done".

I woke up at David's, screaming and unable to breath. That was the first night I was spending there and he just rationalized everything as a simple nightmare. And what was his explanation why I had had such a bad dream that I actually woke up screaming? Well, he said that it was because I wasn't used to his mattress or pillows. Yeah, right! It's the mattress' fault. But, either way, David was great. Completely unaware of my past (and unaware of my dream – I told him that I didn't remembered it), but great nonetheless. He made me breathe to a bag; he hugged me, calmed me down, made me drink water and then went to sleep holding me. The next morning, four months after his first "I love you", I told him I loved him back as well. And it was true. It is true. Well, obviously, it's not a "crazy, can't live without you" kind of love, but it's a mature love that grew out of friendship.

David is my Sam II. He's a were and a good man; he's my friend and my boss. Two months after I arrived in Tennessee, we started dating. But we stayed just friends for a long time. Dating my boss was always in my not to do list. And so, we just hold hands for a little less than a year. But then, there was the first kiss. A week later, there was the first make out. A month later, there was the first sex.

My apartment in Cleveland was a few blocks from the restaurant and I usually walked the distance. That morning, I arrived at Brown's Rest and Grill a little before the start of my shift and found David working the books at his office. I left my purse there, kissed him and went to the front to work.

I still don't know how I got involved with him. I guess I thought that David was my second chance. Sam was a good man and a good friend. And I knew that he liked me but I never gave him any shot (you know: the non-dating your boss issue). And because I was alone, I suddenly found myself involved in all that vampire mess (that included several attempts to my life). I wouldn't make the same mistake again in Tennessee and so I got myself a non-vampire boyfriend. Yes, David is a supernatural creature. He's a were-bear. But he's totally non-pack material. He runs alone when it's a full moon and all his friends are regular humans.

So… I had a great apartment next to work, a good job and a first class boss/boyfriend. Everything was really great. I just had this tiny problem with David. He had been insisting that I move in with him but I wasn't sure yet.

"Common Sook, you stay at my place three nights a week and I stay at your house at least twice a week, what's the problem with definitively moving in together?" And he was right. We used to spend lots of time together and moving in seemed like the next obvious step.

So why didn't I? Well, I still hadn't told him about my telepathy. It's not that I didn't trust him, or thought that he'd use me. And to tell the truth, I have never got a full sentence from David's mind; just feelings and emotions. And they were _good_ feelings and emotions. Yes, I had to tell him. And then maybe we could live together for a while and… Who knows? Maybe even get married and have babies. A girl. I'd love to have a daughter and we'd cook together, I'd brush her hair… David's nephew was 8 years old and he absolutely loved his uncle. Yeah, we'd be alright with a baby of our own. I decided then that I'd tell him. I'd tell him everything. I'd tell him about the telepathy, about wanting to get married and wanting a baby in maybe 1 or 2 years time. And that night. I'd tell him that night.

-x-

"Christine, table 9 needs their check and go get more bread to that group of boys in 7. And please tell Anna that table 12 wants more coffee and 15 is in a hurry so she should recommend the day's specials, will you? My tables are all okay for now. I'll just be in the back for a while helping David checking the delivery."

"Delivery today? It's Sunday!"

"Yeah, but tomorrow their truck has to go to the repair shop, so they came a day earlier. Now, please just do as I asked."

"Will do. Thanks."

I could hear her talking to Anna about her tables. And I could also hear her thinking (and not for the first time) that I should give a waitress course or at least write a manual because I always seemed to know what's needed where.

I smiled to myself. Yes, I was a good waitress and I had lots of experience but being able to hear my clients' thoughts made things much easier. I still remembered back when I started working at Merlotte's how tough it was to block everyone and I silently thanked Bill for his coaching and help in controlling my telepathy. Even though, back then, it was Bill's assignment, he actually helped me a lot and now, being telepathic, wasn't that big a problem. Well, at least, I hoped it wasn't that big a problem and wouldn't be that big a problem. Especially to David.

I went to the back of Brown's and saw that the truck was parking on time. I helped David checking that day's delivery and making the next delivery's list. Everything was alright, and so I left him and the delivery guy unloading. I kissed David quickly and said:

"Oh, by the way, would you mind if we have dinner at my place tonight instead of going out?"

"Why? Any problem?" We always went out to dinner and a movie on Sunday's evenings. And David hated any change in our routine. He truly was "Mr I Hate Surprises".

"No. I just want to talk to you more privately, that's all."

"Talk to me?" Even if I couldn't hear his thoughts or fell his emotions I would have been able to see by his face's expressions that he was wondering if I was leaving him. His ex-girlfriend had left when he insisted he wanted to have a more serious relationship and he was still hurt because of that. You know the saying: once bitten, twice shy. "Something you can't tell me at a restaurant?"

"Yeah. Maybe I want to talk to you about our living arrangements" – I turned down my voice and got closer to him – "and maybe I want you to spend the night" – even lower and even closer now – "so you'll help me pack tomorrow?" Brown's Rest and Grill was closed on Mondays. A great smile appeared in his face.

"Okay. Tonight, at your place." I smiled at him back and went to the front.

Sunday was a calm day and usually both of us left early. The staff have been working there for at least four years (except me) and David trusted them (with good reason, my telepathy told me). And so we left at 5 pm, went to the supermarket and then to my place where we started making the dinner – well, I started; David just tagged along. He was positively gleeful. We had dinner, watched TV and then made love.

Making love with David was always calm and sweet and there was never the kind of urgency I felt with Eric (and even with Bill). But it was nice and usually I came.

David was still in top of me, my arms around his back. We lay in silence for less than a minute and then he moved. He thought that I minded if he stayed on top of me. And I knew that even thought I actually didn't mind it, it was my fault that David thought I did. "You're heavy. I can't breathe with your weight on me" I told him once. But the reality was that in that night, for the first time ever, David had started kissing and licking my neck in a lazy way. And, in my mind, neck equals vampire and "you're heavy" was easier to say than "you are still inside of me but I'm thinking about Eric who, by the way, is a vampire who used to bite me just there where you were kissing me". Yeah, definitively easier.

"I'm thirsty. Do you want anything from the kitchen?" He asked. His brown hair was voluminous and kind of messy. I smiled and said no with a shake of my head.

"Sixty seconds and I'll be back". He put on his t-shirt and boxers and left the room. I immediately got into my pajamas and followed him to the kitchen where I kissed him for a few minutes.

"One minute and you were already missing me?" David teased me when I kissed him.

"Yeah! Aaahh… listen David: we have to talk."

"Sure. What's up?" I could tell he didn't think this was "the talk". In his mind, when I told him that maybe I'd need his help packing tomorrow, that sealed the deal. So I told him what I needed to say.

"Before we move in together there's something about me you should know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before." And then I paused. I wasn't looking for an effect; I just didn't know how to tell him. The effect, however, was there. And I felt myself in a soup opera right before the "Tune in next week" phrase.

"Go on."

"You know that there are vampires, right?" He nodded. "And you are a were-bear, so you know that there are shifters and weres." He nodded again. "Well, I'm all human but I have a twist." Telepathy? Need to know basis. Fairy prince great granddaughter? Do _not_ need to know basis.

"Twist?"

"Yes, a twist. Well… The thing is: I can read minds. I hear people's thoughts." He was looking at me like I was a freak. And… I guess that I was. I had just told him that I was a telepathic waitress. He made this gesture with his hand that said "go on" and I continued talking. "Not everyone's. I mean: I can't hear what vampires think but I listen to what humans think. I can close it and not hear at all for a while if I try hard or I can go further into people's minds other times."

"And me? I mean weres?" Typical. Believe I can hear thoughts? Okay, sure, no problem. Believe I can hear you? That's another question all together! And this always happened. I still remembered Andy Bellefleur's reaction towards me: how he was absolutely sure that I could hear people's thoughts but he still didn't believe I could hear _his_ thoughts.

"With difficulty. It's not whole sentences or images like with humans. Just emotions or feelings. And born-weres like you are even tougher to hear. I… I…"

"What? You what?"

"I've never heard a word from you. Just emotions. But your face expressions tell me the same that I fell so…" I shut up. I had chosen the worst time and place to tell him this. After sex, in my kitchen, at 11.30pm, both dressed for bed. Am I dull, or what?

"So… So what Sookie? Finish your sentence."

"So it shouldn't matter."

"So it shouldn't matter that you've kept secrets from me?"

"Well… I…."

"Do you have any other secrets?"

The "friend of the pack" status with the Long Tooth Pack. The 1/8th fairy. Eric. My blood bond with Eric. My marriage with Eric.

"No."

"Okay." We stayed there not moving, looking at each other, for a couple of minutes. "Okay." He repeated. He moved in my direction and hugged me. "So it doesn't matter."

We kissed again and then went to bed. We spent the next day packing some of my things and just taking it easy in our day off. By the 30th that month, I was giving my landlord back his keys and David was making a copy of his keys for me. That night, and after almost 9 months, I dreamt of Eric again. And a month later, David asked me to marry him.

* * *

**So… What do you guys think? David sounds like a good guy, right? Btw: I didn't wrote how he is physically because, lets face it, after Eric, every man would look more or less the same… But he does look like a nice man. I mean: he cares for Sookie and she's happy with him in the "normal life" she always wanted... Should Sookie marry him? Would you rather she answers "yes" or "no" to his proposal? **

"**The Power Station Years: The Unreleased Recordings" is a compilation of Jon Bon Jovi's songs (1980-1983) that includes ****"Don't Keep Me Wondering".**


	8. The One That Got Away

**Hi! So here's chapter 8! My first Pam's POV! I guess it's character-like but please tell me what you thought about it, okay? Thanks again to BloodSucker815, my beta! And thank you all that are reading this story! ~****Célia**

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**Pam "The One That Got Away"**

I hated it. I really hated it. And I had been thinking, for the last few weeks, that maybe I should move. Maybe I should go back to England for a few years, perhaps. I could even meet someone new there... Who knew? Louisiana wasn't fun anymore. _Eric _wasn't fun anymore.

For the past year and a half, since he had come back from Europe, he had been a fuckwit. Yeah, a fuckwit. You wouldn't tell it just by looking at him, but I did know Eric. And he was not himself. Sure, he did go to work every night, he entertained the vermin at Bloodbath, Deadliest and Fangtasia and he even showed up at the other three Fangtasias in Monroe, Baton Rouge and New Orleans; he was still Sheriff of Area 5 and he dealt with all the politics that it concerned. He drank from and fucked beautiful woman quite often. He had friends, well, acquaintances, that he met and spent time with. But I knew him best. He was _not_ the same. We had even been having sex again, for crying out loud.

Don't get me wrong. There was nothing wrong with having sex with Eric. It was great actually. I always came and it was always amazing. But it wasn't us anymore. We were more than best friends, we were family. And you just don't fuck family. It's like… Well, fucking a cousin. Yeah, you can – it's not like fucking a brother, which you can't. A cousin you can actually fuck but you shouldn't. And you _know_ that you shouldn't.

And the reason? That was easy: he missed Sookie. She's the one that got away. And she literally got away. As in: away to Tennessee. So he missed her. And that was why we had been doing the horizontal mambo quite often. He wanted sex to mean something. He wanted a connection with the person he was with. And I did understand that. Sort of. Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't really understand it. At all. Because it was Eric. And Eric was a vampire, a bad-ass, a… Well, it was Eric. And so I didn't understand his need to connect. But I did understand that some people (humans namely) might have that need. Maybe the blood bond transferred some of Sookie's feelings to him? Hell, who knew?

Eric should never have gotten himself into the blood bond. Yeah, I got it, it was obviously advantageous to have a telepath working for you. But Sookie just wasn't worth it. It was not that I didn't like her. I did. I even admired her – she was definitively my favorite human. But she was just not worth having my maker moping around.

She called me tonight. She said she was already living with the bear and that they had decided to get married next summer. Fuck. Marry a bear.

"Oh." That was the only thing I could answer.

"You knew that we were boyfriend and girlfriend Pam. Almost for a year now."

"Yeah but… ahh…". A bear?

"I'm 29 years old Pam. And I'm not like you. I won't stay like this forever. I have to have a life. Have someone of my own. David's good for me." There was certainty in her voice. She really thought the bear was the best for her. Yuck. How desperate do you have to be to marry a were?

"But a fucking bear Sookie?"

"He doesn't mind that I'm a telepath. It would be pretty hypocritical if I minded that he's a were-bear."

"Did you tell him about you?" She had always tried to keep her telepathy a secret.

"Yes, a few weeks ago, before I moved in. I had to." She answered me. Suddenly, she didn't sound as certain as before. And then, I heard her sighing deeply.

"What?" I asked.

"What 'what'?"

"What was that about? Why? The big sigh? What's the matter?"

She didn't answer for a minute and I shut up as well. But then she said: "It's just that… aaahhh…" I knew she was having difficulty telling me what was thinking about. But I just waited. She'd tell me. Sookie had never been one who dealt well with the silence. The "management" of the silence. She had always felt the need to fill the silence. And so, she continued: "It's just… well… David asked me if I have any more secrets and I said no, but… aahh… there's the… aahh…. The fact that I'm a fairy. Part fairy I mean."

"Yes, there is that," I knew what she wanted to say so I helped her, "and Eric."

"Yes, my Lord, there's Eric. How is he?"

"He's all right. You know my master. Always doing something. We'll open the 4th Fangtasia franchise next month and Eric has been checking all the others. He's been traveling a lot. Meeting tons of people."

"But is he okay?"

"He is."

"Thank God. I always worry about him. Sometimes I wish he hadn't closed the bond."

She did? "It was for the best Sookie. And believe me; it was really hard for him. Without Ocella he wouldn't have managed it. You guys were pretty close. As bonded as you can be."

"Yes, I know. It was for the best, but…" She shut up.

And now it was I that couldn't deal with the silence. So I immediately asked her: "But what?"

"But I still miss him, Pam. And I was wondering if… aahh… Do you think I can meet him, perhaps?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, I'm marrying David next year. But there was the knife thing with Eric. The uuhh… vampire marriage. And I thought that I should at least meet him in person and talk to him about…"

"No Sookie. Definitely not." I wouldn't let her destroy Eric's (little) progress of the last months. No. Definitely not.

"But Pam…"

"No Sookie. And I mean it. You don't need to see him. And he doesn't need to see you. In fact, it will hurt you both. You guys decided you wanted to end this… this… well, whatever you call that relationship of yours. You just spend a week together and Eric was not even Eric by then. I never understood how you two got so involved with so little contact. But the truth is: you did. And even after almost two years you still miss and worry about him and let me tell you he still would…" I paused.

"What? He still would what?"

Die for you. "Well, I don't know. It doesn't matter. The point is: you shouldn't meet. It's not healthy to force past relationships." I had read that somewhere. And I agreed with it. Especially in Eric and Sookie's case.

"And what about you? Can't I meet you? I miss you as well Pam! I haven't seen you since that first time I visited Bon Temps. It's been a year and a half already."

"Yeah, there's work and such…!" WTF?_ "There's work and such"_? I was obviously lying. I mentally slapped myself. I should be better at falsehoods. Well, I was. Maybe, deep inside me, I didn't want to lie to her.

"Pam, tell me why you are always busy when I visit Bon Temps."

To hell with all of this. She deserved to know and so I told her. "Eric smelled you on me that first time we met. And I don't want to risk that again. I'm sorry. I miss you too my telepathic friend."

"Oh... I understand." She sounded sad.

"Don't be like that Sookie. We are still friends. You're my favorite breather." I tried to cheer her up. She always laughed when I called her breather.

"Yeah, I know." She still sounded sad.

"Tell you what: Eric will be staying in Houston for a week or so next month because of our next Fangtasia. I'll visit you in Tennessee then, alright? That way he won't even know that we met."

"Thank you Pam."

"You're welcome. Are you okay now?"

"Yes, thanks. But… aahh… Pam, what about my marriage with David?"

"What about it?"

"I mean: I can marry David, can't I? The vampire wedding didn't mean anything, right? And should Eric know about my wedding? Should we keep it a secret or tell him? I think that he deserves to know. But that doesn't mean that I want him showing up in my wedding day saying that I'm already married and screaming "she's mine, she's mine" before killing my fiancé. Actually, that's the last thing I want."

I laughed. I laughed loud and hard. That would be Eric to a T.

"You are right. He should know. I'll talk to him next week when he's back from New Orleans. Don't worry. I'll call you then and say how it's gone, alright?"

"Sure. Thank you again."

"I gotta go now Sookie. Take care."

"You too Pam."

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Yeah, I should definitively leave Louisiana. This was absolutely not fun anymore. I was sure Eric would go berserk when he knew she was going to marry a bear. A fucking bear. And on the following year. Fuck. But she was right. I had to tell him. He had to know. Fuck.

All of a sudden it was Tuesday and Eric arrived back at Shreveport in high spirits. I was at the computer when I felt that he was close. And 30 minutes later, Eric entered my office at Bloodbath smiling. Wait. Smiling? He was smiling? Eric smiling?

"Pam, you won't believe it. This is great. Natércia is alive after all." Oh, hell. Natércia was the only vampire besides me and Ocella that Eric had had a close relationship with; I hated her. He continued talking: "You know how she never showed up after the Great Revelation?" Yeah, I did know that. Thousands of vampires were killed all around the world after that night; Natércia was in Russia back then and that was a country that didn't accept us graciously. Eric worried about Natércia like a maniac when she didn't report back. I, on the other hand, loved that she was MIA. "Well, she was caught back then but she wasn't killed! And she and a couple more vampires managed to break free from the Orthodox Patriarchate Church of God," Russia's Fellowship of the Sun, "and she has been staying in Germany for a few weeks, recovering. It's great Pam. My friend is alive after all. She's alive, she's alive. We have been friends for 800 years."

"Yeah!" I tried to smile. I managed it. But poorly. "It's great Eric. And New Orleans? How was it?"

"What happened Pam?"

I stayed in silence. For the past week I had made lots of scripts for this conversation. I memorized a whole speech about breaking free from Sookie and shit like that. But I blanked. "Pam?" I couldn't remember anything in that moment. "Pamela?" Just the truth.

"Sookie moved in with the bear. They are going to get married next summer."

* * *

**So, he now knows. What do you think? Should he go to Tennessee and finally talk to her again? Or just forget Sookie and try to move on? Will he be madly angry or depressed? Or neither? Btw, I'm still deciding if Sookie will actually marry David or not...**

**Another thing: Natércia is my grandmother's name. Like Sookie, I was raised by my Gran, so this was my little homage to her. And Natércia's character will be back later! Let me just tell you how to pronounce it in Portuguese. It's something like: Nuh-Ther-cee-uh! (Uh=as in m****u****m; Eh=as in n****e****ver; Cee=as in me****ssy****) and the stressed syllable is the second one (Na****tér****cia).**

**Last but not least: "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can Be Wrong"**** is a boxed set released in 2004 on Island Records that includes the song "The One That Got Away". **


	9. Diamond Ring

**Hi everybody! I'm sorry this chapter took so long! I'll update again next weekend, I promise. As usual, I want to thank BloodSucker815 for betaing this and I want to thank you for reading and especial thanks to those who review. Believe me: your feedback is muuuuuch appreciated! And again: not my characters, I just play with them! I hope you'll like this chapter! Célia**

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**Sookie "Diamond Ring"**

David asked me to marry him a month or so after I moved in with him.

We had watched a movie at the mall's theatre and we both had hated it, even though it had had great reviews. We also had had dinner at a great steak place, and we both had ordered the same sauce and the same soda. And, after our shared dessert (we both loved strawberry cheesecake), he popped the question.

"We are so good together honey." I hated when he called me honey; you know: he's a were-bear… It always made me think about Winnie the Pooh or Yogi Bear stealing picnic baskets. "We never fight, we like the same things… Will you marry me?"

Okaaay. _"We never fight and we like the same things"_ is not probably the best reason why a person should get married, but he was right. We were good together. And we did like the same things. But I wasn't sure yet and I asked for some time. Thank God, he hadn't knelt. So David just put the ring's box (still unopened) in this coat pocket and we left the restaurant.

I was afraid that the drive home would be really awkward. And it was… kind of. But he started talking about the new neon sign we would be putting up the next day at the restaurant and the new European beer we had been serving and so it wasn't as awkward as it could have been. As soon as we got home, he had a shower and then he just said he was tired and was going to bed.

I stayed in his living room, thinking about David. And Bon Temps. And Gran. And my hopes and dreams. And the lies, or half truths, or hidden truths I had told David. Or rather, that I hadn't told David. And, of course, I thought about Eric.

So I stayed there just thinking about my life and waiting for David to fall asleep, just wondering why I wasn't sure if I should marry him. He really had a point: we were a good and secure couple. And if I had to bet, I would put my money in the fact that David was the man Gran would want to marry me. He loved me. And he was safe. He had never hurt me. And I was sure he would never cheat on me. I could trust David. And Tennessee was also safe. I had been there for a little more than two years and for that time nothing had really happened to me. Yes. David and Tennessee were safe. They were what I needed.

But… was I compromising? Was David what I really wanted? I thought about him and his nephew and I thought about how he was always saying that he loved me. But I wasn't sure yet. And then, I thought how David didn't have any supernatural friends, how he didn't care about that world and how he never hide anything from me. And those thoughts helped me decide. David was as anti-supernatural as a were-bear could be. And that was just ideal for me.

The next day, I said yes. And with the ring in my finger everyone at the restaurant started to ask about it and so it became known that David and I were engaged.

A week later I felt that it was time to let my Bon Temps friends knew about it as well, so I started making some phone calls. Both Jason and Sam sounded happy for me. Jason was already in his 3rd marriage and things didn't look good but he still believed in the institution. Sam, on the other hand, was still single and girl-friendless for the time but as a true friend, he wished me the best. Tara, pregnant again, and totally in "mommy way" just told me that marriage is great and she couldn't wait for me to have babies so our kids could be friends. I just smiled and thought about the possibility. Then there was Claudine – who, always gracious, wished me good luck, just like Amelia (who was still living unmarried with Tray). I even called Bill, but he was traveling trough Asia (Thailand and Singapore had recently accept the vampire kind and he went there to meet vampires who had been living there to get more information so he could expand his database) and so we just kept the conversation short. He said he would call me when he was back to the US. And finally, I called Pam.

Telling Pam equaled dealing with my (kind of) marriage with Eric. And I was dreading that. But I knew it was necessary so I dressed my big girl pants and I even suggested that maybe I should met Eric. "No. No. No. No. No. No." was her answer.

I didn't know why I wanted to met Eric. Maybe I needed closure. Maybe it was the fact that I had been dreaming about him again – but not sexual dreams this time; just being together dreams: we would be having coffee at Merlotte's, or walking in a garden… And the weird part? Eric was human!

Either way, I just felt I really needed him to know that I was getting married. I needed it. Pam offered to speak to him and call me in a week. She also said she'd visit us. And so I was happy. I really missed my vampire friend. And the next day, for the first time in a week I felt good with myself when I put the engagement ring in my finger.

The next few days passed in a blur. My family and friends knew my new marital status (fiancé! Don't you love that word?) and my soon-to-be husband knew (and didn't care) about my telepathy. I was living in a nice house, with a good man and working in a great place. My life, finally, was going the way I wanted. Finally! It might have taken me almost 30 years but my life was back on track now. And everything was just wonderful.

-x-

"Who's Eric?"

It was 10 pm. We were watching TV together hugging in the sofa. Without looking at David I just said "What?"

"Who's Eric? You've been saying that name in your sleep for a few nights now."

"I have?"

"Yes. Who is he?"

Okay. What should I say? What should I say? What should I say? The truth, obviously. But I needed to keep it simple, keep it simple. Keep. It. Simple.

"He's a friend. At least he was a friend. I haven't talked to him since I moved here."

"So why are you dreaming about him if you haven't talked to the guy for two years?"

"I don't know…" Liar, liar… Pants on fire. I did know. I perfectly remembered all Eric's words and all Eric's touches in my recent dreams. And I always felt a pain in my heart every time I thought that I was going to marry someone else, even thought I was (kind of) married to Eric. But I also had to tell David something. So I added: "I guess… Well, you know my friend Pam, right?" I still wasn't looking at David, but at the TV instead. I felt terrible. And Eric's words still echoed in my brain: _"I might not tell you everything, but I'll always tell you the truth." _How things had changed. Now it was _I_ who was hiding things. But it was needed. David really didn't have to know that part of my life. He hated all things related to the supernatural. Which was one of the things that attracted him to me.

"I haven't met her yet. But I know you have a friend called Pam, yes."

"I called her a few days ago to tell her about our wedding. And she knows Eric and we talked a bit about him. He's opening a bar next month." Okay. No lies there. Everything I said was true. Pam knew Eric – he was her maker, so she knew him. And Eric was in fact opening a bar – he was also my vampire husband, but he was _definitively_ opening a (vampire) bar.

"Alright."

"Alright? So… that's it? No more questions? I say the name of another man when I'm sleeping in your bed and… that's it?" I was looking at him now.

"In _our_ bed Sookie," he kissed me quickly in my lips, "and I trust you. I love you."

"Love you too."

"Look, I'm going to take a shower and then go to bed. Tomorrow I'll visit the new distributor's warehouse and I want to be there real early. Goodnight honey!"

And after another quick kiss, he left me there in his, I mean, our living room watching TV. And even though I didn't want it, I couldn't help to compare David and Eric. I mean: can you imagine if it was the other way around? Eric would definitively (okay, probably) kill the man of my dreams and would probably (okay, at least possibly) kill me too. All the "mine" stuff was really one of the problems between us.

Well, if I'm to be truthful, the "mine" stuff just happened twice: in Rhodes with Andre and at Gran's during the take-over with Victor. And those weren't even really bad "mine" situations. Bill's "mine" situations had been much worst. And I had forgiven him. And Eric's reactions had been quite reasonable every time, even when we were being attacked in some way. And there had been those memory-free days when he had been the sweetest man on Earth. And even before that, he had always treated me like a princess rather than a waitress and he… No. No, no, no. Definitively no. I couldn't think that way. I was just remembering the good times. But there had been _tons_ of problems between me and Eric. And now i had chosen David. I was engaged to David. I couldn't think this way. I just had to concentrate on how great for me David was, and how high-handed Eric had been:

1. He was always giving me things like a jacket, a cell phone, a door… He even gave a driveway! Okay, I actually needed those things – but that was not the point;

2. He was always treating me like a child, protecting me like I was five years old! Alright, he actually saved my life and took a bullet once to save me (yeah, it was more than once, it was three times) – but that was not the point either;

3. Ahhh…

Humm. Okay. So… What _was_ the point really? Oh, yeah, sure, he' was right-handed. He married me without telling me so. Common! I couldn't be with someone who tricked me to marry him. I couldn't, could I? No. No. I mustn't think that way. I should think about why he _tricked_ me to marry him. And that was to prevent Quinn from visiting me. A bit extreme, don't you think? And definitively right handed! Definitively!

I was so concentrated in my thoughts and my new doubts about marrying David that I jumped, scared by the phone. I looked at the clock: a little bit after midnight. I answered and heard Pam's voice:

"He knows. I've told him."

I couldn't answer. I just stayed there, in silence.

"Sookie? Did you hear me? I said: I told him!"

"Yes. Sorry. I… How did uuhh… So… What happened?"

"He destroyed my office at Bloodbath and then left. I… Look Sookie, he was really mad and… Maybe you should spend the night somewhere else. He might want to talk to you and it's not a good idea if your boyfriend is near. Eric might kill him."

Again, I couldn't answer.

"Sookie?"

"You're serious, aren't you? You actually think he might kill David?"

"I do. And I swear that I don't know why. Yeah, I get it, a blood bond is serious, it's heavy stuff but… he closed it. You guys haven't been feeling each other for two years now… Well, I thought I should warn you. I got to go now Sookie. Listen, I'll call you back as soon as I hear from him again. And you call me if you need something, will you?" Meaning: if Eric shows up threatening you or your boyfriend.

"Of course. Thanks Pam."

"Take care."

Again, I couldn't say anything or move a muscle. In a minute, I had gone from wondering if I should end my relationship with David and go back to Louisiana because of my feelings for Eric to wondering if that same Eric would kill me and my boyfriend. I shut down the TV but stayed there, in the dark with my heart beating frenetically. And then I thought how Eric would love to hear my heart that way. He wouldn't kill me. We had been friends. We had never had a proper boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but we had been friends. We had teased each other, laughed with each other, and been there for each other. Yeah, he wouldn't kill me. He just wouldn't. I felt that. And I was like 99% sure of that. But the fact that I wasn't 100% sure bothered me to no end and I recognized that David was what I really needed. David and a normal lifestyle were my future. Eric and the supernatural world were my past. They were in me, and would always be in me. I was what I was because of my past. But my past had happened already and wouldn't happen again. And I would never see Eric again because if he hadn't before, he sure hated me now. And even though his hatred pained me, I felt glad for it because it meant he would leave me alone. Well, if that 1% of probability didn't happen and he ended killing me.

I stayed there thinking for about two hours before I decided that I wouldn't run and I went to bed. Eric didn't show up that night and Pam didn't call again. The next day work was awful – I couldn't think about anything other than Eric and why he had reacted that way. _"You just spent a week together. And Eric wasn't even Eric back then."_ Pam had told me once. And she was right. Why then was Eric still connected to me? Why did he care if I married David? And why was I still thinking about him? For one thing, I had decided to leave Eric in my past. And for another, our blood bond had been broken… And even if it hadn't, why was it so strong? I'd exchanged blood with Bill a few times as well (actually, I had exchanged blood with Bill a few _more_ times than with Eric). And I dated him for months (not days). But I hardly ever thought about Bill. Whereas Eric…

Eric didn't show up that second night either and Pam didn't call as well. After two weeks I was a wreck: I wasn't sleeping, I was having problems shielding at work and I wasn't having sex with David. I knew he was worried about me, thinking that I might have cold feet about our weeding (he told everything to Stephen, our cook, who was an extremely loud broadcaster). But David, as usual, was being understanding and was giving me time and space. On the 16th day after Pam's last phone call (yes, I was counting the days), I was with David having dinner in our kitchen when the phone rang. It was Pam again. I left the kitchen and went to the living room, so I could properly talk (or, in other words: so David wouldn't hear my conversation).

Pam immediately started to talk like there was no tomorrow: "He's back. Said he just needed some time but now he's alright and that even though you guys can't divorce that just means that you can't bond with another vampire, so you can marry your bear. He said to tell you and I quote "fuck her and everything Sookie related. I am still not sorry we pledged with the knife. No other vampire can maneuver her away. But if she wants to be with a fucking bear, I don't care about her anymore" end of quote. And then he just kept repeating that. So… There you go. You can marry. He doesn't care about you anymore."

"What did he meant? Maneuver her away?"

"You know: Victor was trying to take you to Las Vegas. DeCastro wanted you there."

"No. He said I was under his protection. I saved him. He wouldn't do that to me. And Eric just married me because of Quinn, right?" I was whispering. David didn't know a thing about my vampire (kind of) marriage, and I wanted to keep it that way.

"Oh my sweet human. Being under his protection just meant no one could harm you. And if someone did harm you, then DeCastro and his vamps would fight for you: to defend or avenge you. It doesn't mean he wouldn't protect you in Las Vegas. Actually, his protection would be easier if you were living at his palace. You really are a silly person. You'd trust DeCastros's word?"

"So that was why Eric married me? Not Quinn?" Had Eric married me to protect me? He hadn't. He couldn't have. That was not Eric-like to do something for others. He hadn't. Had he?

"Yeah, the stupid tiger was one reason, but your protection meant much more to Eric."

Oh. My. God. Was Pam lying to me so I would see her maker with "better" eyes? Or was I finally seeing Eric's selfless side? I… I… I had moved to Tennessee because of all this. And now… _"He doesn't care about you anymore."_ No. I had made my decision before. I had to uphold it. And I did love David. I thought about my fiancé and calmed down a bit. Right or wrong I had made a decision to leave Louisiana two years before, and that had brought me to a wonderful, caring man. I deeply inhaled and exhaled and I really felt myself calming down.

Pam then told me Eric was with his maker again in Europe and that it was really good for him to be with this Ocella guy and that Eric was really all right. And so, free from Eric's eventual murder visit, and feeling good because I had made my decision and I was sticking with it, I was able to sleep again (and, thank God, there were no more Eric dreams). A couple of days later, I even started organizing my wedding ceremony.

-x-

Later that month, Pam did indeed visit me in Tennessee and David finally met her. And the best thing to say about that meeting was that they were cordial to each other. At the third night, when we were saying goodbye, she said: "I hate him. You know I do. He's a fucking were. But he seems to like you and you seem to like this life so I wish you the best."

"You sure you don't want to come to the party Pam? The ceremony at the church is at 4 pm but you could come later, at night, to the reception." But she had already made up her mind and politely declined again before she left to Louisiana.

And so, after a minor discussion with David titled "why the hell didn't you tell me that your friend was a vampire?" that ended with "it doesn't matter what she is; she's my friend. And Amelia's a witch by the way. And I'm a telepath and you are a were. So, what gives?" everything went back to normal and, as always, days turned into weeks and then months (and the continued absence of Eric dreams helped a lot).

And suddenly, it was summer and my wedding day was just two weeks away and I couldn't wait to be Mrs. Brown.

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**Hi! So… she's not married yet, but she can't wait to be… Next chapter will be an Eric's POV. And Natércia's back to Louisiana! And there are some nasty fairies on their way…! What do you think about all this? Please, feel free to drop me a line, okay? Oh, and I'm trying to write bigger chapters. Is it better for you? Thanks again for reading. **

**The "These Days Special Edition Album" includes a song called "Diamond Ring". Célia**


	10. Kidnap An Angel

**Hi everybody! Here's chapter 10. And there's another "time jump". I really had to move on a little bit but at the same time I wanted them to be apart for a while. I hope you'll like this chapter. If you have any question or suggestion, please feel free to drop me a line. I love to hear your feedback! Célia**

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**Eric "Kidnap An Angel"**

When Sookie decided to leave, I had a hard time accepting that and so I decided that I needed a break and I left for Europe. I stayed there and had a good time for about half a year and then I came back.

But just a few days after I arrived at Louisiana, I had to leave again. This time to Nevada, so I could talk to De Castro about Sookie. My pledge to her earlier that year in front of Victor (and the fucking reason why Sookie had left) had given me some time, but a visit to Las Vegas to talk about the telepath was necessary. And so I went there.

De Castro obviously hated that Sookie had left one of this states, but he had a psychic in his cohort now, so he wasn't as concerned about Sookie's absence as I feared. A really good clairvoyant was much more appreciated than a telepath, especially if the telepath just read human minds but the psychic saw everyone's future, namely vampires. Besides, I added that Sookie was losing "her touch" and hadn't been listening as good as before. I left Las Vegas after I promised that if De Castro would need her, I, as her bonded, would bring Sookie to him. But, at the same time, I knew he was too excited with his new supernatural diviner to care about Sookie. That, and the fact that it was now known that we had bonded (no one in the US, other than Pam, knew that our bond was broken), would keep Sookie safe from harm from vampires. De Castro, again, extended his protection to Sookie (he still remembered how she had saved him) and I went back to Louisiana.

In Shreveport, I just kept working and trying to forget Sookie. Pam was told to never mention her again and I immersed myself in my duties as Sheriff and my new bars. Eventually, several months later, and discarding the fact that I had told her that I didn't want to hear about Sookie ever again, Pam told me she was engaged.

And when my child said that Sookie was getting married I just thought "what the fuck? How did this happen?" Last time I knew Pam had told me that she was dating a were but just holding hands. And then it hit me: that had been more than a year before and I hadn't let Pam talk to me about her ever since. And so I did what I knew best: I destroyed the office in a tantrum and then left.

I spent a few days just flying and running nowhere in particular just to spend my energy. Two weeks later, I went back to Shreveport and told Pam that Sookie could marry whoever she wanted because I just didn't care about her anymore. Just speaking those words felt like a thorn was lodged in my throat, but I kept repeating it to myself. It was as if saying it out load would make it true.

And then, I decided to visit Ocella again. But he knew why I was back and he didn't receive me as well as before. "Is this still about a fucking human girl?" He could feel it was and he hated it. "The bond is closed already. Why the hell are you still thinking about a fucking meal? I don't want to hear about this anymore. Just kill her already. Then this fucking problem will end." And I understood him. The whole "still think about Sookie" issue made _me_ look weak. And so it made _him_ look weak. And we both hated it. Besides, he was still having problems with his other child and didn't need me there if I wasn't myself yet.

And so I left Europe again and went back to Louisiana. I was awful for a few weeks and even Pam tried her best to avoid me. But then something good happened. Actually, something great happened: Natércia visited me and I convinced her to stay. It was our 20th or 21st time together as a couple for more than a few nights. Natércia was high-maintenance, blood-thirsty and old as dirt. A perfect vampire. And a perfect companion. _My_ perfect companion. We drank together, met old acquaintances and new vampires together, fucked together and spent the day together. She would usually sit by me at Fangtasia, Bloodbath or Deadliest and be idolized by the vermin and (private and silently) hated and feared by the vampires. Natércia was more or less my age and being with her was second-best only to being with Ocella. Actually, I was having a better time with her than Ocella. Natércia was my best friend. And had been for centuries. She was the only one (besides Pam, of course) that I trusted enough to spend the day with.

And suddenly another three years had passed and I managed to put Sookie even further back in my mind. And I usually did it. I mean: sometimes I would see a curvy blond and think of her but nothing more. Besides, Sookie Stackhouse's name was absolutely prohibited in my vicinity. I knew Pam talked to her often and they even meet once in a while, I felt it. But we never talked about my former bonded. I never asked and Pam never answered my unspoken questions. And, of course, there was Natércia's great ability to occupy my time. And my mind. And my cock.

"I got us a couple of 21 year old twin girls. They'll be here at 3 am." She said on a Saturday night a little after we woke up. I had had a really stressful week full of problems with the bars and the new beverages' supplier and she knew that I was in a bad humor. "Red haired, petite body and never been bitten before." Her smile showed some fang.

"You did?"

"I know you've been moody recently and I thought to get you a treat."

"To get _me_? Are they both for me?" I teased while I grabbed Nat and sat her on my lap. I had my left hand on her hair and I pulled her in for a kiss while my right hand griped her knee. Nat's kisses were always feral and rough. And so, her fangs soon pierced my bottom lip and I loved it. When our kiss ended, she licked my blood from her lips with her tongue. It was very sexy. _She_ was very sexy.

"Well, I was hoping you'd share them. After all, they are two." She said.

"How did you find two never before bitten girls willing to be bitten by us?"

"Hemophy dot com. The new site. And I've met them yesterday. They were so excited and scared at the same time." She smiled at me like a kid with a new toy. Well, I guess she did have a new toy. She just wasn't a kid anymore, even though she would always be 21 years old herself.

"Were they expensive?"

"They were free. They really want to both be bitten at the same time. And they are picky. They wanted two good looking vamps, a man and a woman. And someone really old too, so there won't be any risk of getting carried away."

"Strange girls."

"They are. But they're also really beautiful, and they smell differently. But in a good way. And can you imagine? The way their hearts will beat when our fangs approach their necks? There's nothing like a never bitten neck of a non-glamoured human."

I kissed _her_ neck and hugged her closer to me. "Lovely. And it's been a while since I had a never bitten neck. I'd bet they'll taste sweet. You always know how to pick them. You truly are amazing Nat." I've known for a few centuries now how she loved compliments. And I never wasted any opportunity to praise her. As expected, she immediately started stroking my cock. In that same second, my right hand grabbed her knee stronger.

"And I'd bet you'll fuck them both," she answered me.

I moved her so we were both lying on the floor (me on top, obviously). "I'll just fuck you. Right now." She giggled and a couple of minutes later we were both naked and I was already inside of her. Nat strongly grabbed me and made me fuck her roughly and with all my strength. And because we were two vampires, there was no reason to stop for breathing or recovering.

Three or four hours later, the girls arrived at my house. And if I had bet, I would have won. They did taste really sweet. And the smell of their fear and arousal was great. But if Nat had bet, she would have lost. I didn't fuck any of the girls. They tasted _too_ sweet. There was something fairy in them. Just a touch. Maybe just a 1/16th or even less, but it was there. After Sookie, I could recognize fairy blood with all the easiness in the world. Yes, there was a touch of fae in them. But now that was just a turn off for me. They just reminded me of Sookie.

They had just left when Nat asked: "Why didn't you have them?"

"I did. I drank one of them."

"I meant sex."

"Natércia, I had just had sex with you. It's not that I couldn't do it. It's just that I didn't feel for it. But I loved them. And I thank you for your exquisite gift."

"You're worth it."

Yes, life with Nat was easy. And fun. And I had a really great time. And those three years together, passed on a blur. But there was one problem though: Pam and Natércia couldn't stand each other. They even fought twice. I had to step in both times obviously, because even without wanting to kill Pam, Natércia was so old that she could seriously hurt her.

And at that second fight, I took Pam's side. Natércia had been drinking fang-bangers at Fangtasia and Pam had said she wouldn't allow it in her bar. That developed into something like "who the fuck are you to think I need your permission to do whatever I want" and "I'm the fucking manager and co-owner at Fangtasia and biting is not allowed here". A few "bitch", "cock-sucker" and other terms later they started fighting. And so, because Pam was right (biting in public places is, indeed, prohibiting by law), and I said so, Natércia decided to leave after those three years with a loud: "I'm going to visit some other male friends who haven't been unmanned by their children. Goodbye Eric. See you next time."

"Thank God," Pam said immediately, "I can even breathe better without her here." And I could not stop smiling and, deep down, agreeing with Pam. Besides, it was a nice pun. The "vampire breathing better" part.

The thing is: Natércia was amazing. But because she was so amazing (and so old), she saw everybody (who wasn't as amazing and as old as she was) like a child sawa bug: inconsequential for the most part, not worth of her attention except sometimes when it was something fun to play with or something boring that needed to be crushed.

And so, Natércia's leaving, in fact, cleared the air and the tension among vampires and I got to see my child be much happier than before. And if I was to be honest with myself, I had to recognize that Natércia had been great in my "Sookie recovery" but I was recovered already and I didn't need her anymore. Natércia and I had always been too intense to last and so we never managed to stay together for long. Well, there was always next time. Sooner or later, we'd be together again. I was absolutely sure of that.

And after that, and for a few weeks, I felt that I was the Eric from before: not the Eric mourning Sookie's absence, nor the Eric that absolutely needed to be with Ocella or Natércia so he would remember what he was. I was me again. I was what I was before the whole blood bond fiasco: I was a fair sheriff, concentrated in my job and spending lots of great times with lots of great women.

But, as usual, everything comes to an end: both the good times and the bad times. And I saw the end of my good times in Pam. Or rather: I heard it in her voice when she called me almost in panic:

"David called me Eric. Sookie's in trouble. Deep shit trouble."

"What kind of deep shit trouble?"

"Fairy deep shit trouble. David's not even sure if she is still alive."

"Who is David and how does he know this?" I swear, I could almost feel my dead heart beating fanatically inside my chest. Now _I_ was in panic. _"Not sure if Sookie is still alive"_? Not possible!

"He's… he's her husband Eric." If I felt my heart beating before, now I definitively felt it stopping beating. Her husband? But Pam was still talking and I focused, so I could pay attention to her words. "And he called me after Sookie was kidnapped almost two hours ago. They were at home when someone attacked them. Sookie was taken. He was gravelly beaten and was taken to the hospital. He called me from the ambulance. He said he smelled fae."

"What kind of fae?"

"He doesn't know. He's not really connected to the supernatural world. He just said they looked like fae. He didn't even know that Sookie's part fairy. When I asked if he had called Niall he said "Niall who?".

"We have to call him. Niall, I mean."

"Already done it. He's on route to Bon Temps now. There's a portal to Fairyland behind Sookie's former house. He's going to meet Bill at this moment and they will start searching for her as soon as they meet."

A portal in Bon Temps? But, more important than that: Bill? Why the hell...? I had to ask: "Bill?"

"Of course. He lives there. And he's her friend. He wants to help. And I called him after I called Niall. I didn't know what to do Eric. I didn't even know if you wanted me to tell you this or not. I mean: it's Sookie, the unmentionable. But on the other hand, it's Sookie, my human friend. And she's in deep, deep, deep shit. They are at war Eric."

"Who is?"

"The fucking fairies are. The sky fairies and the water fairies. Niall told me that Sookie, as his part human great gran daughter, is a target for his enemies. They want her Eric. And they want her dead."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm with Dahlia and Clancy. We left Bloodbath 15 minutes ago and we're driving to Bon Temps."

I didn't answer. I was still processing everything in my brain: there's a war; Sookie was taken; they want her dead.

"Eric? Eric? Fuck. Eric? Say something! Did I do wrong? Calling Niall? Calling you?"

"No. No. You did well. I'll leave Fangtasia now. I'm flying. I'll meet you at Sookie's house.".

I immediately shut down my phone, picked two iron swords and almost five years after my last visit I flew to Bon Temps again.

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**So, Pam called saying that Sookie was in trouble, and Eric immediately decided to help. And they'll eventually meet again soon. But she has married David and they are more or less happy together… And what did you think about Natércia? I actually like her and I'm thinking about bringing her back. Would you like that? **

"**Kidnap An Angel" is on the "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong" album. The music isn't that great, but the lyrics are awesome!**


	11. Novocain

**Hi! First, I'd like to say that you'll recognize a few sentences from Charlaine's book. I borrowed it for this chapter (especially the last sentence of the chapter; I HAD to borrow it)! But I changed some things about the FaeWar and I added this HUGE detail. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! Cheers from Portugal, Célia**

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**Sookie "Novocain"**

I wasn't in a hospital. But I was in a bed, not my own. And I was a little cleaner than I had been, and bandaged and in a lot of pain; in fact, a dreadful amount of pain.

I had a few holes in my memory. I remembered being at my house commemorating with David when we were attacked – oh my God! We were attacked! Last time I saw David he was in our kitchen's floor soaked in his blood. God! How was he? I tried to leave my bed – I was going to search for my husband – but both pain and a strange nurse (she looked like a hobbit) prevented me from doing that.

"How's my husband? Is he here? His name is David Brown. He's a were-bear and we were…"

"Schhh… Calm down. You've just wake up. Calm down. He's not here. He's been transferred. But he was here. He was seriously hurt but he'll be okay."

Oh my God! Was David dead? The nurse had said transfered, but what if she was just saying that to prevent me from getting stressed out? Was I a widow? Okay, so call me pessimist but after being kidnapped and tortured for a few hours, I could only think of the worst. I mean: who wouldn't? I had to kno, so I asked her: "Why? Why was he transferred? Is he dying? Is he dead already?" "No. We are transferring everybody. You are still here because you were worst and couldn't be moved."

"Why are you transferring everybody?"

"Standard procedure. Now lay down and stay calm. I'll call the doctor."

I tried to close my eyes and calm down but the pain was too much and so I continued trying to recollect my memories. I remembered being taken, and then I remembered being tortured for hours by two awful beings, two fairies that enjoyed biting, cutting and hurting me in a true sadistic way. I remembered praying for strength for a few hours, but then I switched and prayed for death. But I couldn't remember what had happened between being in the decrepit shack and being here; I could recall flashes of action, the sound of voices, but I had no coherent narrative to connect them. I remembered someone attacking the two things that hurt me. I hoped they were dead. But I couldn't be sure. And had I really seen Bill? What about the shadow behind him?

I was freed from my thoughts when the door opened to let Dr Ludwig in with a "welcome back child." She smiled at me while she walked to my bed. "For a while I thought I had lost you".

She had? Was I that bad? I knew my captive hours had been awful, but would I die? I knew that on the last few hours, I had prayed for death, but now that I was in that strange kind of medical clinic, I really wanted to get better and live. I had too much to live for. I had been married just for two and a half years. And we had just bought our new house. And I loved David so much. It would be a real waste if we died.

And so I tried immediately to bomb the little doctor with questions: where am I? How am I? All of me? Will there be any permanent damage? And where is my husband? How is he? Is he going to recover? And everything she checked in me, I would ask her about it. I didn't however, asked her the most important thing. I didn't have the courage to hear a negative answer. But it didn't matter whether I asked her my big question or not, because all of my questions were answered with either "schh!" or "will you let me work?".

Almost 40 minutes later, she brought a chair next to my bed and sat there. I could see Dr Ludwig's coarse brown hair as she sat. She really looked like the nurse – or the nurse really looked like her. Either way, they both looked like hobbits to me. Really Hollywood movie's type of hobbit.

Then, looking at me, and with her deep voice, she said: "That was close. For a while you could have gone either way: get better or die. But you improved and considering you're human, you're very lucky."

I nodded. Without knowing more, I couldn't say I felt lucky. I tried to scrape together some appreciation of my good fortune. There wasn't any there to gather up. I was all out. My emotions were as crippled as my body. And I really needed to know about my family. All of it. I decided to start with my husband.

"How's David? The nurse said he was transferred. Is he okay? Was he gravely hurt?"

"Your husband had serious injuries. But he's recovering easily. He'll be completely healed in a couple of weeks. Maybe a month. Weres heal really fast and as a born-were, his body recovers amazingly well. We called his hospital saying that you were awake now, but he was the one sleeping. His nurse will have him call here as soon as he's up."

"Where is he?" I still didn't got the "why" behind this transference to another place. There was something both Dr Ludwig and the nurse didn't want me to know.

"He was transferred to a regular hospital." I wondered why. The two-natured were not "out" yet, and David's too fast healing would develop into several questions being asked by the unknowing human doctors. I probably looked at the doctor in a skeptical way, because she felt the need to add some more info. "I'm seriously understaffed here and that was for the best."

I still felt that there was something else, but I was too tired and in too much pain to insist. "Thank you Dr Ludwig." And I still couldn't ask her more.

"Sookie," she said, her eyes appearing at my elbow "is the medicine working?"

"I'm starting to feel a little numb."

"Okay. It is expected. I didn't want to give you a regular dose." She paused and looked at me. "You know you are pregnant, right?"

I felt that my whole world was there, in that room, in that conversation, in my next question and her next answer.

"Am I still pregnant?"

"Yes, you are. And the baby seems fine. I did a few exams and I haven't received all the lab work yet but it looks like your body was able to protect the baby. Actually, that's why you are so fragile and weak. It appears that your whole body concentrated just in your baby and didn't care about you."

Oh my God! Oh my God! I started shaking, and crying and saying "thank you God" incessantly and Dr Ludwig just (kind of) hugged me saying "you're all right" several times.

Eventually, I managed to calm down and she asked if I'd like for Claudine to enter the room. Cleaning my tears, I nodded and then Dr Ludwig left me with my cousin who sat by the bed. Her always impeccable clothes were dirty and looked like she had been sleeping in them for a whole week. Her brown hair was also grimy and badly fashioned. And she sounded somewhat tired. Claudine had been in a fight, that was for sure.

I tried to sit but the pain prevented me and the painkillers couldn't disguise the fact that all my body was too sore to move, even for a millimeter.

"They are all dead, if that helps." Claudine said.

Yes indeed, that helped quite a bit. I'd been hoping I hadn't imagined that part; I'd been a little afraid their deaths had been a delightful fantasy. "How?" I asked.

"When you were taken, your neighbor heard the noise and called 911. They found David unconscious in your kitchen but they managed to wake him in the ambulance. He then called Pam."

"My David? He called Pam? The vampire Pam?" There was no other Pam than the vampire Pam. But David calling her? That sounded so off character. David and Pam had met a few times but they were just able to tolerate each other for my sake. They were like olive oil and water. She hated that I was with a were-bear and worse, that I had chosen him above her maker. And he hated that she was a "filthy vampire with vampire bullshit and vampire problems that you shouldn't have to deal with" – David's words.

"Yes, he figured she would know what to do. And he was right. She immediately called Niall and we all met at the portal in Bon Temps, behind your house."

That damn portal. It was that portal that brought my biological grandfather to my Gran Adele and that was how everything started. Damn portal! I decided to focus my mind into something more recent than my Gran's love affair 50 years ago. "And then what happened?"

"Then we traveled to Fairyland and divided into two groups: group one had to kill as many water fairies as possible to create a distraction while group two, that is me, Niall and Bill had to retrieve you."

So that was why I thought I had seen Bill. The shadow behind him had been probably Niall. And... water fairies? I decided to wonder about it later and instead just asked: "And is everyone all right?" I could see that Claudine looked unharmed (and even though her clothes were unclean, there didn't seem to be no blood on them) but what about Bill? And Niall? They both had been there as well. And Pam? Was she in group two? And who else?

"Niall's good. He went to meet group one who are still fighting our enemies. They are all waging war," she said grimly, "there's no more negotiations, no more jockeying for advantage. There's only killing now."

"And Bill?"

"He was badly hurt." The little doctor who had come back said. "One of the kidnapers got him with a blade and they bit him back. There was silver in the knife and silver caps on their teeth. It's in his system."

"Is he going to get better?" In spite of everything, I'd been considering Bill a good friend for a long time now.

She shrugged. "Let's wait and see, shall we?" She said. "Your baby, on the other hand, is strong and healthy. I've just received a few more exams' results and everything looks all right. We are still missing a couple of results but I'd say that you have a warrior in there". And with that she left again.

"Are you pregnant? When were you going to tell me Sookie?" Claudine asked. She looked sad that I hadn't trust her my secret.

"We had just found out. Actually, David and I were celebrating the "plus" sign in my pregnancy test when we were attacked." I paused and put my hands in my stomach.

"What is it Sookie? The baby is all right. The doctor just said so."

"That's just it. I still can't believe that we are both okay."

"You know that I'm really happy for you, right?"

I knew that the fairies were not a very fertile race, and the huge amount of iron in the world had reduced their birthrate. But I didn't know if Claudine herself had ever tried to become a mother. Her eyes however, told me so. "Thank you. Will you be the baby's fairy godmother?"

She showed me a big smile and said: "Of course. It would be my pleasure."

And then we stayed like that, in silence for a few moments. Minutes later, I asked: "Why is it that I was kidnapped?" I knew that those two who had hurt me and kept me captive were fairies. So I thought Claudine would be able to shed some light into all this. "Why? I'm not a fairy."

"But your great grandfather is. And he's a prince of the sky fairies, the rullers of Fairy. His enemies, the water fairies, want his throne so they can close the passage between both worlds. If Breandon, our enemies' leader, has his way, Faery will be sealed off. As a part human descendant of the fairies with your telepathic skills, you could be like our "poster-girl". You could be the example that we don't lose anything mixing our race with human blood. I mean: you are just 1/8th fairy _and_ you have the essential spark _and_ you are telepathic." Claudine said, accentuating all the "and's".

"But Niall said that my telepathy had nothing to do with being part fairy." I still remembered the night when I had asked him that. Eric had kissed me that night even thought I was dating Quinn back then.

"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Either way, it doesn't matter. If you are telepathic because you are part fae that means mating with humans doesn't make you lose your gifts. If it has nothing to do with being part fae, that means mating with humans can give fae extra gifts, like telepathy."

I didn't know what to answer so I just said "oh".

Then, all of a sudden, she became tense and alert. I heard noises in the hall, as if people were moving around the building in a hurry. Claudine got up and went over to the room's narrow door to look out. After the third time she did this, she shut the door and lock it. I asked her what she was expecting.

"Trouble," she said, "and Eric."

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**(Oh, no you didn't! Oh, yes, I did! My first real cliffhanger! Hehe! )**

**So… First of all, in my mind CH never truly explained us why Sookie was kidnapped. "She's part-fairy" isn't reason enough. If so, why wasn't Jason kidnapped as well? And so, I changed a little bit that part of the story. What do you think about it? Was it too much? Did I exaggerate?**

**Secondly: Sookie's baby. Well, one of my best friends had a baby last December, and now she's always saying how her son changed her life and that I don't know what I'm talking about when I say that I don't want kids. And so, because of Susana (that's my friend), I thought that I should add a baby to the picture! But… now I'm scared. Super scared. Really super scared. I mean… what do you think about this baby?**

**Finally, "Novocain" is in Bon Jovi's album "Have a Nice Day". **


	12. Love is War

**Hi! First of all, thank you for the lovely reviews! They sure made me write as fast as I could! And baby or no baby, don't you worry: I'll make it happen and Sookie and Eric will have their HEA (but we're still a few chapters away from that). **

**I also want to thank BloodSucker815 for her beta-talents and Charlaine Harris for giving me these characters to play with. And now, without further ado, here it is: the reencounter between our favorite couple! Hope you'll like this chapter! Célia**

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**Eric "Love Is War"**

I arrived at Sookie's a few minutes later than Pam and noticed that there was an old couple, already glamoured, living in the house.

I acknowledged everyone's presence and immediately asked Niall what was happening. He explained that another fraction of the fairies wanted his throne and that Sookie was a liability to them because of some essential spark shit. Whatever. It didn't matter. I couldn't care less about those fuckers' political problems. I was only worried about Sookie and I said so.

Only a few minutes later, a plan was formed: Niall, Compton and this fairy named Claudine were to save Sookie while Pam, Clancy and Dahlia, and I plus a whole lot of fairies were to go to the battlefield and kill as many as we could as a distraction. The idea was that some of Sookie's guards would then be transferred to the battle and Niall could get to her easily. Then he did his fucking hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo spell magic so we (the vampires) would only smell his enemies and not his allies. And off we went – to kill some motherfucking fairies.

As soon as we got to Fairy, all that smell, and the blood and the heat of the battle hit me and I went completely berserk. I honestly don't know how many fairies I killed but I know I was a fucking killing machine. And even though I tried to not drink them because that would distract me, the truth is I did drink from a few full-blood fairies and I was somewhat drugged on it. Besides, knowing that Sookie had been hurt or maybe even killed by those fuckers switched something inside me and my blood lust reached a high as never before.

A few hours later, the open battlefield war ended with our enemies' departure and something similar to a trench warfare started. Later that night Niall showed up saying that Bill had been poisoned with silver and was at Dr Ludwig's but that they had retrieved Sookie. "She was badly hurt but she's alive. The doctor said she might wake up in 24 hours or so. Claudine is there, protecting her. She'll call as soon as Sookie awakens."

In that moment I didn't care about the battle or anything else. I just dropped on my knees and thanked all the Gods I could think about for the gift of Sookie being alive and I tried to pray for her recovery. A few minutes later, however, our side was being attacked again and I got up to help my child with a particularly big and old fucking fairy.

We were so into our blood lust that we didn't even noticed the sun going up in the sky. But then, when we didn't burn and were able to continue fighting, Niall explained that his spell the night before was responsible (we wouldn't burn in the sun while in Faery). And so, more than a thousand years later, I was able to fight and kill in the sun again. Dahlia kept fighting as well. On the other hand, Clancy was extremely touched that he was out in the sun but Pam snapped him out of it with a bossy: "Who the fuck cares about the sun? We are in a war. Stay looking at the sun and you'll die. Look at our enemies instead and kill the motherfuckers." She then charged again and I felt an immense pride for my child.

By the end of that day, the last remaining of our enemies had all popped to some other pace and we were left alone and bloody on the battle field.

Niall made the usual speech to his fairy soldiers and then started to thank the four vamps who had helped him. I immediately interrupted him: "This was just a battle, fairy. You haven't won the war yet. But either way, I don't care. Take me to Sookie. Maybe my blood can wake her."

"She's already awaken. Claudine sent me that information about two hours ago."

"And you didn't tell me? What the hell?"

"We. Were. In. A. Battle."

He paused, for emphasis I guess, between words. I did the same: "I. Do. Not. Fucking. Care." And then I screamed: "WHERE IS SHE?" My voice echoed in the open field. Niall then nodded to a young boy and said: "Take them there and then come back."

We were taken back to another portal and then entered the human world next to a warehouse. As soon as we got there, a little dwarf nurse took us though a long hallway. I saw Bill in the first room and looked at Clancy and Dahlia. "You two help him. Dahlia, you're older. Give him blood. We'll need everyone to leave this place." A few doors down the hall the nurse pointed to a door and then left. "Wait here" I said to Pam when I heard someone unlocking the door and swinging it open.

I went in very quietly; one moment I was looking at the door, and the next minute, she and her bed filled it. The fairy Claudine was there and she gathered up her paraphernalia and left the room, keeping as far from me as the room permitted. Outside of Fairyland, and away from Niall, his magic didn't work and any fairy (ally or enemy) smelled like a fairy. My nostrils flared at her Fae scent but I didn't care. Then she was gone and I was by the bed, looking down at Sookie for the first time in almost five years. I didn't feel anything from her so I knew that even this near to her our bond was definitely closed. She didn't look much older, but her face and body were covered with bruises and cuts.

I tried hard to keep the rage from my face, but it didn't work. "Fucking fairies." I said and my lip curled in a snarl.

"Dead now." She whispered, trying to keep her words to a minimum I suppose.

"Yes. A fast death was too good for them." I told her and she nodded (as much as she could) in agreement.

"I'm going to look at your wounds," I said. Being with her was overwhelming but at that moment I could only think about her injuries and her present condition. I didn't care about our past or even a possible future. There was much to talk about, but before that I wanted to make sure she was all right.

"Okay," she whispered.

With a clinical neatness, I folded down the sheets and the blanket. She was wearing a classic hospital gown and it was scooped up above her knees. There were bite marks all over her legs – deep bite marks.

Ludwig had bandaged the worst ones and I knew that there were stitches under the white gauze. I then stood absolutely still for a long moment.

"I'm going to pull the grown up", I added and then proceeded to do that. After my analysis of her body, I looked back at her face and saw her eyes shut, like a child who wandered into a horror film. I covered her again and then sat in a chair that was next to the bed. Seeing her badly injured like that hurt me inside. I felt pain because of her. "How are you Sookie?"

"Trying to recover. And the painkillers are starting to work. I'm happy that I'm alive but sad that this all happened." For someone who had just been kidnapped and tortured, that was a long sentence. Even here and now, she knew just what she wanted to say.

"I see." I, on the other hand, didn't.

"I worry now about my recovery and Bill's and everyone else who was hurt. I wonder why this had to happen to us all." Her recovery…

"Do you want my blood?"

"I can't. Not now."

She didn't want my blood. She _still_ didn't want my blood. Her answer hurt me as much as seeing her body did. "I see," was all I could say again.

"But thank you Eric, for offering. And for helping me with my rescue. I'm glad to see that you still care about me."

"Of course I do. I'll always care about you Sookie. Even with the bond closed, you are my bonded." And then I couldn't help to add: "And my wife."

"Well," she looked even more uncomfortable now than before, "I thought you knew. I…. I married two years ago. My husband's a were-be..."

"It does not matter," I interrupted her; "we can talk about that later. You need all your strength now. They are probably coming here again and you need all your strength."

"Here? Coming here? Do you think… You really think they're coming?" She sounded really scared. And I wondered why the hell I had been so inconsiderate to tell her that. Maybe I could lie to her. She didn't need to know how she was still in danger. "And are they after me Eric?"

"Yes," I answered. Even if I had wanted, I would never be able to lie to Sookie. I had never done that before and I would never do it in the future. Hide things from her, yes. But answering her direct question with a "no" when the answer was a "yes"; _that_ I couldn't do. And for a second I wondered why. There was no more blood bond between us, but I still couldn't do it. Even so, I saved that subject to be thought about later and continued talking: "Breandan's remaining forces will find this place sooner or later, if not Breandan himself. He's defeated already. And he has nothing else to lose, only his pride to retain. I am afraid they will find us shortly. Ludwig has removed almost all the other patients". I turned a little, trying to listen. "Yes, most of them are gone."

"Who else is here?"

"A couple of fairies about to die and Bill."

"Is Bill still here?" I hated that she was asking about him. I would always see Bill as the real reason why Sookie never wanted me. And here she was: hurt but still worrying about him.

"Yes. He's in another room. He's been getting blood from Dahlia. And probably Clancy too." I said.

"Will he be okay?" It deeply angered me that not only did she still think about and distress herself because of him but that she had been able to keep in touch with Bill. _"They are friends", _Pam had said. Fuck.

"Do not know. Do not care."

"Eric!" Her admonishing tone reminded me of before when we used to tease each other and I calmed a bit.

"Yes," I said sighing, her scent in my nostrils, "he will."

My phone then rang and Sookie jumped a couple of inches. I answered it with a crude "What?" I listened and then clicked it shut.

"Niall and his fae are on the way", I told her. I tried to keep my voice as calm and as steady as I could. "But Breandan's blocked all the other portals to the fae land. There is only one opening now. Whether Niall's group will come in time, I don't know."

The door then opened and I saw Pam, Clancy, Dahlia and a limping Bill.

"They're almost here. Breandan and… I'd say between 25 and 30 more." Pam said.

I immediately got into "battle mode". Sookie's life was at risk and I could not allow anything else bad to happen to her. I told the four of them where I wanted them and what they should do and left Sookie's bedroom with her and the fairy that was initially there when I arrived.

I looked at Sookie and said: "You do not worry. I am here now.". And then I told the fairy: "No one will get to this room. I will not allow it. But, in the off chance…"

"I'll defend them with my life," she interrupted me with rage in her eyes. I nodded and I left ready to the battle. I closed the door behind me and then heard it lock. The vampires were already at their positions and Niall was close, I could tell. It would be more or less easy to kill the remaining of Brendan's army if Niall was to get there in time. And the five of us could certainly keep that reminiscent of an army occupied until Niall's arrival. And then we would kill them all, and Sookie would recover and we would talk.

I picked my bloody swords and got ready to fight again. And then, it hit me: _"I'll defend them with my life"_. Them?

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**So? What did you think? It's really hard to write the "Eric's POV" while trying to keep it in character. I hope this is Eric-like enough for you. Please, feel free to make all the questions or suggestions you want! And ****Boa Páscoa Para Todos****! (That's "Have a Nice Easter Everybody" in Portuguese)**

"**Love is War" is one of Bon Jovi's songs. It starts this way: "**_**Load your guns, Take sides, Raise your flag, 'Cause baby, Love is War."**_


	13. Last Man Standing

**Hi! So, a couple of you mentioned that Sookie did not even asked Eric how he was (after the war) in the last chapter, but she just kept wondering about Bill. And you are right! But, believe me, that was not Sookie's fault. It was my own. I totally forgot about that detail! My bad! I can only (perhaps) explain it as… "sookie was still in shock"? Is this a somewhat good enough reason for you? Well, I hope it is! Anyway, here's chapter 14. I hope you enjoy this and tell me your thoughts about it! Hugs and kisses, Célia **

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**Sookie "Last Man Standing" **

As soon as Claudine said Eric was coming I froze between feelings. For once, I was incredibly happy that he still worried enough about me to fight for me and that I was going to see him again. But then there was also shame because I had left him the way I did and I was now married to someone else. And finally, I feared: I feared that he might kill me because I was carrying another man's child; I feared that he would ignore me and don't care about me at all; I feared that I'd fall for him again in just one second and kiss him and leave this place with him without a second thought. All these scenarios I thought were possible. And I feared them all.

But what happened was something different. Completely different. He just… Well, he just got in and reacted as if the last five years hadn't happened. At all.

Firstly, he wanted to see my injuries, and I let him. And then he offered me his blood to heal me (just as he had done before, in Jackson) but didn't react when I said no (he accepted that I didn't want his blood – he didn't insist or got mad or angry) and finally, he proceeded to tell me about the war. So, you see, Eric really reacted as if the last five years hadn't happened… The "missing strangeness" was so strange.

And as unbelievable as it may be, there was only _one_ (one!) awkward moment. It was when he said that I was still his wife. But even _that _hot topic didn't create a big commotion between us, because as soon as I tried to tell him about David, he just said that we'd talk later. No anger, no screams, no reaction. _"Who are you and what have you done to Eric?"_ I wanted to ask. But I did nothing of the sort. I just stayed there, lying in the bed while he looked at me and talked to me. And then he received a phone call and told me that the war hadn't finished yet. I got anxious about it, but he just said that he'd take care of everything (meaning "I'm gonna kill them all"). Suddenly, someone opened my bedroom's door, and for a few moments, I got a glance of Pam, Clancy, Dahlia and Bill (all with clothes stained of blood, just as Eric's) and then I was left in my room with Claudine again.

We were just staring at each other when Claudine moved next to me and grabbed my hand. "Do you think Breandan will win?" I asked her now that the vamps had left and she had closed the door to my room.

"No. Niall's on his way. And according to what I heard when you guys were talking, your Viking here is a freaking force of the nature. All our associates are really impressed with him and glad he's on our side."

And I almost smiled because I couldn't help but feel pride for him. I knew how important being regarded as a good and courageous warrior was to Eric. "I know. He's an incredible man. I mean… vampire."

Claudine looked at me with curious eyes and then she asked: "You still love him?"

I didn't even need to think about it. I answered her immediately: "Of course. I will never stop loving him. But it's like you said: he's a force of nature. And he's so intense that I couldn't keep up with him. I wanted, I still want, a calm and simple life. The white picket fence kind of life. And Eric is everything but calm and simple."

I was expecting a reply to my words, but Claudine just stayed there, in silence. And as soon as I realized that our conversation was (for now) over, I just started praying for Eric and his allies.

"Everything will be all right." Claudine said minutes later, trying to calm me down. I nodded and continued praying for a while.

But then we heard a loud noise and it was followed by many others: doors splintering, fairies screaming, swords clanging, vampires growling… As far as I could tell, a war was really happening out there. And by "out there", I meant beyond my door. And it probably happened quicker; but for me, it looked like ages. Then, all of a sudden, as quickly as it had begun, everything went still and silent in a moment. And then my door opened.

Niall filled the doorway of the room, and my eyes hurt to see him. He wasn't wearing the black suit he wore when he met me in the human world but a sort of long tunic and loose pants tucked into boots. Everything about him was white, and he shone… except for where he was splashed with blood.

The long silence continued. There was no on left to kill.

I tried to slide to the floor but I couldn't. The best I did was to sit a little in my bed – my whole body as weak as jell-o. Besides, I was too shocked to weep and too tired to say anything. But Niall wasn't. Turning away from my door (in his soldiers' direction, I guess), he said: "We've finally killed our enemies. Breandan is in the Summerlands now. All those who followed him here are dead as well. The few others that run will be captured in no time. We will spare the females who accept our leadership but kill everyone else. We did well today and the Brigant clan will continue to rule." And then his already high voice got even higher and he screamed: "The war is over."

I heard cheers and clapping and Niall stopped for a while. When the cheering sounds quieted, he continued his speech: "Breandan wanted to block the passage between the human world and our world. He believed that the Fae needed to be protected from the humans. But I say: no! I say that fairies should mate with other fairies, yes. And I do understand that that's the proper way. But when there is love," – and then he said it again, with a louder voice – "when there is love, Fairies should go with their heart's desire. And the proof lies here, in this bedroom, in my great granddaughter, who lives to carry on my essential spark."

Another pause for applause. "Can you deny ? Can anyone deny? A girl, a young human girl just 1/8th fairy, I say again, just 1/8th fairy," – his arm pointing towards my door – "and she carries the essential spark. And it's exactly like mine. There are full fairies without the essential spark and then this small human has it and even more. Even my children don't have it. Their sparks are powerful and strong, but they're not like mine. They are close, but they are not like mine. There's more: my great granddaughter has even other gifts besides the fairy ones. She's the proof that those who chose to live among the humans have that right. The passages will stay open as long as the Brigant clan still rules."

More clapping. More cheering. When the audience calmed again, Niall continued. "As I said, we did well today. And now we all deserve to go to our houses to get clean and rest. Tomorrow we will bury and mourn our dead. And then we will keep living. Now, go to your homes, your families, you've deserved that!"

I could hear more clapping and then the unmistakable sound of 20 or 30 people leaving a room in high spirits. A few minutes later everything was much calmer and quieter again and I found myself with Niall, Claudine and Pam in my room.

"How are you child?" Niall asked me.

"I'm okay and I'll recover, I guess. Thanks."

"I'm sorry that all this happened and that you had to suffer. I should have protected you but I didn't realize Breandan would act this way."

"I understand you did your best." I answered. And I did understand that. I was incredibly sad and angered that I had been treated as a puppet but I knew it was not Niall's fault. "And how are you?"

"I am all right child. And I've also checked with Ludwig and I was told your husband is fine as well. He'll recover quickly," my great grandfather replied.

"Thank you." But I knew that already. Now I wanted to know about all the others, those who had been in this second part of the war so I looked at Pam, whose clothes were even bloodier than before, and then I asked her: "And how are you? And Bill? And the others?" She knew what I meant. "The others" included Clancy and Dahlia, for sure, but "the others" included Eric as well, obviously.

"Bill's still sick. Dahlia's okay and took him home. Clancy was hurt but he'll recover easily. Eric left as well. He told me to say that he'll visit you soon and ordered me to offer you my blood. It's an easy order to carry though. I don't mind a bit. Will you have my blood Sookie?"

I was touched. Firstly, because I knew Pam wasn't one to give her blood. And here she was, offering it to me. And secondly, there was Eric's attitude. He probably thought that I hadn't drunk before because it was _him_ offering. And so he left without saying a word (after fighting for me) but not before he made sure I had vampire blood available to me so I could heal better.

I felt my heart shrink a little and then said: "Thanks Pam but I'm not sure if I should."

"If you drink just once Sookie there will not be a blood bond. And I'm not drinking from you so… It's not like before…" Meaning: it won't happen anything like what happened with Eric.

"I know that Pam, and I thank you. It's just that… there are other things to consider now."

"It won't hurt the child," I heard Dr Ludwig's voice; I hadn't even noticed that she was here again; "it might even help."

"Child? What child?" Pam asked. But voice and eyes showed that she understood who this child was; she was only hoping to be wrong.

"Child?" Niall asked as well. "You're with child?" He asked looking at me. "Did you know?" He then asked Claudine.

"I just found out myself. Sookie's baby looks fine, right Dr Ludwig?"

"Yes, everything is alright." The little doctor answered.

"I am extremely happy. You've made me extremely happy my child. Thank you." Niall kissed my forehead and gave me a quick hug. His touch _was _powerful. He _was _power itself. I felt immediately better because he was that close to me. I wondered if it was his essential spark. The one that I, supposedly, had just like him. I wanted to ask him about it. I wanted to know what it meant, but I just didn't have it in me. I was so tired that I wasn't even curious about it. I just thought that I should be inquisitive about it – you know, because it concerned _me_. But even thought I was feeling slightly better because Niall was so close, I was still too injured and damaged. Both physically and mentally.

Pam and Claudine both sat on the room's sofa (for seconds, I wondered how Pam was resisting to Claudine's smell, but, again, I just wasn't strong enough to care). Dr Ludwig stayed next to the door. And Niall just stayed close to me. And just like that, half an hour passed in silence.

Suddenly, Niall left my bed, he licked his lips and he told me. "Sookie, like I said, I am extremely happy and proud of you. You resisted like a Brigant to your ordeal, and you are now doing your duty and becoming a mother. I'm really very joyful and pleased. Alas, I must go now. There's still much to do. Claudine, please stay with Sookie until she's reunited with her husband. I'm leaving now." He kissed my forehead again and with that he popped away.

And in that same moment, Pam looked at Claudine as if she was a great cupcake. It was evident how hard Pam was trying to _not_ attack my cousin. Claudine immediately got up and said: "I'll just shower and change Sookie. Back in 15 minutes." And then I noticed something: Claudine hadn't yet had the opportunity to change her soiled clothes (but not as stained in blood as Pam's of course), and she obviously wanted to do that.

"Sure Claudine. Thank you." I said and she left.

Pam kept staring at me and repeated her question from before: "Child?"

I didn't answer her but instead said: "How did you stand before? Being next to Claudine in the sofa?"

"Niall was masking his smell. She's his kin, so Claudine's smell was masked too. When he left, she was unprotected." Pam paused for a second and then she repeated her previous word: "Child?"

I thought that she deserved to know (after all, she _had _fought for me) and so I nodded.

"It is the were's?"

"Obviously Pam. He's my husband." Who did she think could be the father of my child? I was about to ask her that when she asked me another question.

"Does Eric know?"

"I can't see how. I didn't tell him."

Pam just looked at me for a few moments and then she asked: "Want my blood now that the midget doctor said it is okay?"

If anyone knew how strong and a great-healer vampire blood was, it was me. In my second contact with a vampire, I had been attacked by a couple of Trailer Trash, and Bill saved my life with his blood. Yes, I did know how a vampire's blood would help me recover. And if Dr Ludwig said that it might even help my child, then I'd drink it. If the baby's well-being was in the stand, then I wouldn't care.

"Please Pam. Thank you."

She then proceeded to move to my bed and laid down next to me. Pam bit her wrist and put it in front of my mouth. "Here," she said, as if there was no more to talk about. She slid her free arm under my neck to raise my head and I opened my mouth and swallowed. When her wrist healed, she stroked my face gently and said "You know I must tell him." It wasn't a question. It was a fact.

"Yes."

"He'll freak. He'll absolutely freak."

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**So? What did you think about this chapter? As I said before, I'm changing a little bit the whole "Reason for the Fae War". I really hope I'm not offending anyone with these little changes. If so, I'm sorry! And what about another Pam's POV? Would you like to see all that is happening trough her eyes? **

"**Last Man Standing" is the 7****th**** song from Jon Bon Jovi's Album "Have a Nice Day".**


	14. Shot Through The Heart

**Hi! I'm so happy! My soccer team FC Porto reached the "UEFA Europe league" final! YAY! And I'm going to Dublin in two weeks time to watch the game, so I'll be able to buy "Dead Reckoning" there (it takes way too much time for the new book to arrive to Portugal). So, double YAY!**

**Anyway, here's chapter 14, a Pam's POV. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing. I tried to keep it character-like, but you'll be the 'judge' on that! Again: not my characters, I just play with them. And thank you BloodSucker815 and ****Charhamblin** **for your help. ~Célia **

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**Pam "Shot Through The Heart"**

Where were we? Was that the 'Never Ending Story' or something? Are we in the parallel world of Fantasia fighting "The Nothing" and riding in an oversized dog or a dragon or something that looked like it? WTF? Would this never end? Fuck. This was ridiculous. Abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous.

I was minding my own business, when I got David's call about Sookie being kidnapped. I immediately called Niall and started making things happen _tout de suite_. But soon after that call, I was calling Eric too. I pondered if I should call him for a couple of minutes, but then I decided to do it. I just knew he wouldn't forgive me if I didn't call him, even though now Sookie was "the one that we cannot speak off". Hell, maybe that wasn't the "Never Ending Story". Maybe it was Harry Potter's story, instead. It was _still_ a fucking children's movie or book or whatever, and we were so _not_ children.

So, shortly I was meeting Niall, and Eric and Bill and a few more vamps and fairies and we all went to Fairy to fight for a whole night and day (yeah, I really mean day, thanks to Niall's magic) and we managed to retrieve Sookie and help the sky fairies maintain their place in the Fae's hierarchic tree. Personally speaking, Sky Fae, Water Fae, Earth Fae or Fire Fae, it was all Fae to me and I just didn't care. But the Brigants were trying to save Sookie as well, and so we helped them.

And we did manage to get Sookie back. She was hurt but she was alive.

But there, in that hospital room, after the war, during that whole time I was with Sookie (and especially after giving her my blood and discovering that she was pregnant), I couldn't _not_ think about all that mess and how we had ended up here…

So, first Eric and Sookie met – something completely normal, two people meeting for the first time. Sookie was pretty and she smelled good _and_ she was Bill's, so obviously Eric became interested. Okay, that was still normal; there was nothing wrong with that. Eric would always be interested in cute girls with appealing smells.

But when Sookie didn't immediately fall for Eric, he started getting even _more_ interested in her, and then, he fucking started to care about her. I mean: hello? Eric? Caring? WTF? And it got even worst because Sookie started caring about Eric as well, which was just as improbable as Eric caring about her because Eric was a motherfucking bad ass vampire. She liked him? Worried about him? Come on! Nevertheless, the truth was that they were indeed always teasing each other, and laughing together, and they both had this weird sense of humor, so they did understand each other perfectly. I mean, they became friends. Awkward with Eric being… Eric. But still acceptable. Yeah, it was hard to accept, but still acceptable, this… _friendship_.

But then things started to change when they eventually exchanged blood a few times (Dallas, Jackson and Rhodes), all special circumstances. And that was when I started to worry about Eric. He hadn't given his blood to anyone but me since I had been turned. So why was he giving his blood to a human? Granted, she was a telepath, but still… After that, they then spent a week together and something happened there! A week. A fucking week. Even less. It was just five or six nights. Five or six! Hell! And Eric was not even Eric by then. He was only this pale image of Eric. However something _did _happened then and there.

But as quickly as this "something" (whatever it was) had happened, it went away because Eric forgot that week. Everything was like before, but just for a while as some time later, he fucking remembered and all hell broke loose. They then got married by ceremonial knife, and Sookie freaked and left to Tennessee.

And then, I seriously thought that everything would be alright again. And it kind of was. I mean, Eric hid with his maker in Europe for six months, but then everything calmed down for a little while.

But, obviously, it wasn't the end of all this. Yeah, Sookie was away and Eric was fucking every good-looking girl he could. But hey, "Never Ending Story", remember? Because eventually Sookie started dating a were, and Eric kind of freaked again, and got together once more with that bitch Natércia – but then I actually understood Eric's reaction because Sookie was dating a fucking were-bear.

So, Sookie was still lost in Tennessee; her name unmentionable to Eric, who was living with Natércia. And even though I hate her, I must recognize that Nat was a positive influence on Eric. She was a pain in the ass to me, but Eric actually seemed okay with her and everything was alright again.

But just as the Harry Potter book series has several stories, this couldn't be the end of everything. Because that was when the fucking fairies fucking kidnapped Sookie! Eric, obviously, got into "fight mode" _pronto_ and off we went to the Fae war. Then, there was the post-war, when they talked and seemed to get along. Kind of, more or less. Well, at least he didn't threaten to kill her husband… that _had_ to be a good thing, right?

Now Sookie was pregnant… with an actual child! And a fucking bear was the father. And I was the one who had to tell Eric. Oh man! He was going to freak. He was definitively going to freak. Hell, I was freaking myself.

The thing was… the thing was… Okay, I realize that this was a heresy but it was true: Eric loved Sookie. There was no maker and no long time (800 years long time) girlfriend able to stop that. He loved her. Full stop. Yeah, it was true: Ocella's blood had helped him close the bond. Yes, he didn't feel her anymore. And yes, Natércia had helped him get a normal life. He was now able to live normally without Sookie's presence. But the truth was: she was always there. Sookie was always in Eric's mind. Fuck! She was on his heart!

How did this happen? How did the motherfucking bad ass vampire fall in love? I didn't know! I just… didn't fucking know. And I was there. From the beginning! Oh man! He was going to freak. A baby! A little baby.

The way he had told me to offer her my blood? His face? Well, it made me absolutely sure that after seeing her again, Eric was going to try to earn her back somehow. He didn't care that she was married. Hell, she was also married to him. Yep, he _so_ had this "I'm so going to get the girl" face.

But now? With a baby in the picture? I feared that now it was Eric who'd stay away. He wouldn't try to interfere in a family's life. And with that baby, Sookie plus fucking bear now meant family. Eric was _so_ going to freak.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

-x-

So, I left the warehouse almost at dawn. Sookie was asleep by then and her fairy was there. I got home, I showered and I changed. I had drunk too much and I was positively full. Fucking delicious fairies. I locked everything and went to my room where I charged my cell. As soon as I turned it on again, I received a text message. It was from Eric: "Meet me at Bloodbath tomorrow. First dark."

Fuck! Of course he wanted to talk about her. He probably wanted my advice on how to react to her, how to make her love him again… He knew that I read the magazines and he knew I had human friends. He knew that _she_ was my friend. He wanted to talk to me about her. Fuck!

I laid down in my bed thinking about all this. Again I felt grateful that I was a vampire and dawn would make me sleep without insomnia. True to my race, the second the sun went up, I was out.

The next night, I woke up, I showered, I dressed and I quickly drove to Bloodbath. I lived closer, but Eric was already there. I entered his office and sat in a chair next to his table. He was on the phone with Ludwig and I realized he was asking about Sookie. By his face I could tell everything was all right and that midget doctor hadn't told him about the baby. As soon as he shut his phone, he looked at me smiling. He was fucking smiling.

"She's good. The doctor says she's much better. Your blood really helped. Her husba… That David guy will pick her up tomorrow and take her home. She's still recovering but will be all right soon."

He was positively glowing with that news. I, on the other hand, felt awful.

"Great," I managed to say, "That's great."

He immediately saw that I had something to tell him, and that it wasn't good. Damn him. He always knew when I was hiding something. He knew me too well.

"What is it?" Eric asked. His smile was already leaving his face.

"There's something else. She told me when I gave her blood. Or rather, Ludwig told us. Niall didn't know either. Nor that tall dark-haired fairy, Claudine, and she's actually Sookie's fairy godmother, and…."

"Stop babbling Pam. What is it?"

I swallowed, even without needing to do it. And I took a deep breath. And then I just kept it simple and I whispered: "She's pregnant."

Eric didn't say anything, didn't move. He had absolutely no reaction. He just stared at me. I waited like ten or fifteen minutes but he just stayed there not talking and not moving. At all. Eventually, I continued: "It's her husband's, obviously. And he's a were bear, like I told you. So the baby is half were and…. well it looks like the baby's strong because he survived everything and is still healthy."

"He? Is it a boy?" Okay, good, he was talking again. Still not moving though.

"What? Umm... No. I mean: I don't know. I said 'he' but I don't know if it's a daughter or a son."

"A daughter or a son…" He repeated me. He was still not moving and now he wasn't even looking at me. He had his eyes focused on something somewhere on the wall behind my back. His mind was, obviously, not there with me.

"Yes," I finally said.

"Sookie is going to be a mother." Eric answered still unmoving. His eyes still locked into something unknown behind me. I felt that he wasn't asking but rather stating a fact. Either way, I had to keep him talking so I said: "Yes, she will."

"I see."

Okay. That was worst than freak out. That was some sort of bizarre reaction by non-reacting or something. It was freaking _me_ out. Fuck!

"Eric?" I said, touching his hand above his table. He looked at me. Finally!

"That's wonderful news," his lips said but his eyes looked like he had received the worst news ever. And I mean: ever-ever! And ever for a one-thousand-years-old plus vampire is a long time. A long, long time. Besides: what the hell? Wonderful?

"Wonderful news?" Now it was I repeating his words.

"Yes. She's always wanted the husband, the kids, the white fence, the dog. She was always talking about how she grew up with that dream. It was her grandmother's dream for her. At least now she'll have it."

"Oohh…" I couldn't reply anything else… Hah? No. No. Stop. Just stop. Stop everything. Reality check needed here. ASAP! Eric? Altruistic? Happy for others?

"She will be a wonderful mother. I envy her child. She will love the child unconditionally. Sookie, a mother."

"But…" I couldn't help myself from asking; this was all too bizarre… "But, what about you Eric? She's _your_ bonded, _your_ wife."

"Yes, she is, but the pregnancy changes everything though. She will never leave the bear now."

"And will _you_ be okay Eric?" I was really worried about my maker now.

"Yes Pam, my child, thank you. I… I have to rethink everything. I don't know what else there is to do..."

"Eric?"

He got up and started walking to the door. He kissed my forehead, smiled at me and said: "I need to be alone for a while now. I have to think. Goodbye Pam."

"No Eric, wait!" I grabbed his arm. I couldn't let him leave. I was afraid he'd do something radical. As in "meeting the sun" kind of radical. I had to do something. I put my arms around his neck and kissed his lips with passion. "Please, stay with me. I don't want to stay by myself tonight. Stay with me Eric, please stay." My eyes were filled with tears. I knew he could see the red in them.

Slowly, he took my arms from his neck and silently and slowly he kissed my lips. "I love you Pam and I am truly proud of you. And there are times when I really value your company and your opinion, but this is not one of those times," it really sounded like he was saying goodbye, "and I have to be alone now." In an instant he wasn't there. I knew that I could try but I would never catch Eric if he didn't want to be caught.

I dropped to my knees and cried as never before.

* * *

**I know, I know… I pity Eric too. I'm just hoping that maybe he'll get tired of Sookie and choose me instead? Just kidding… These two belong together. Anyway, what did you think? Was this Pam-like enough for you? And what about an Eric's POV next? Would you like it?**

"**Shot Through The Heart" is one of my favorite Bon Jovi's music. **_**"Shot Through the Heart, And You're to Blame, You Give Love, A Bad Name." **_


	15. Cold Hard Heart

**Hello! This is the smallest chapter so far. And I really tried to write the usual length but Eric was not "talking" to me. And the chapter was too heart breaking for me to continue it. But even though it's shorter, I think it is worth posting it. Next chapter (a Sookie's POV with the usual length) will be updated as soon as possible. ~Célia**

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**Eric "Cold Hard Heart"**

Being with Sookie in the same room again was incredible. She still smelled as sweet as before. Her skin was still as smooth and warm as before. Her breath. Her beating heart. And after those few moments in her room I was sure I still wanted her. Yeah, she was hurt, and her body was a mess, but she still managed to look good, no matter what. She was still Sookie, and I didn't even think twice when I left again to kill those who were about to attack her again.

But all the while, I just thought about Sookie. And how I'd help her recover from her injuries, so we could talk about us. And then I'd convince her to go back to Louisiana with me. I would always keep her safe. I would do whatever was needed for her.

And so, thinking about Sookie, when the last remaining soldiers of Breandan's attacked us for the second time at the hospital, it was my pleasure to kill the motherfuckers for her. Half way through the fight, Niall and twenty others arrived and we were easily victorious. Another fight and another victory notch in my story life. But I didn't care. I just kept thinking about Sookie.

Meanwhile, Niall proceeded to salute his soldiers and he started to address them in a speech kind of way. He kept talking nonsense. Fucking fairies and their ways... I couldn't care less.

And so, because I couldn't hear him no more, I dismissed Dahlia (she was to take care of Bill) and Clancy (he was to take care of himself) and went to Pam. I told her I was leaving and asked her to tell Sookie that I'd see her soon. "And Pam… offer her your blood". Thankfully, Pam didn't nag me about not wanting to give her blood to a human, and she didn't question why I wasn't offering my blood either. She just nodded and went inside Sookie's room. Meanwhile, Niall was still babbling some shit about the human and the Fae worlds. Fuck him!

I left the warehouse and went home. I took a long bath and then remembered the past two days: the shock of finding that Sookie had been taken, the heat of the battle, seeing the sun for the first time in a millennium, being with Sookie again, touching her… I went to bed after telling Pam she should met me the next night and waited for dawn to take me.

The next night, I woke way before the sun set. I dressed and the second the sun was down I was driving to Bloodbath.

I immediately tried to call Sookie's doctor but the fucking midget said she was busy and would call me back in 30 minutes. When she did call me, I felt myself relaxing the second she said Sookie was better and recovering. Pam had arrived and I told her the good news.

"Great. That's great." She said. Alright, there was something there. I knew Pam's "great". I had heard it the first time she had killed while feeding. She was just a couple of weeks old and she had been told to never drink humans by herself because she couldn't feel when their hearts started biting slower yet. But, true to Pam's form, she did drink a human. And she killed him. Well, at least, she had had the good sense of choosing a vagrant who had tried to steal from her, and so the guy wouldn't be too missed. But, either way, she knew she would be punished when I discovered it. And so, she disposed of the body, obviously. But Pam was still barely more than a human and the grave she dug in our backyard (for crying out loud, in _our_ backyard) was too shallow. I smelled the corpse as soon as I got home. I asked her if everything was alright, and I heard "great." Since then, I had heard too many "greats" for me not to worry whenever she said that. So, something was going on. I asked her what it was. She didn't know what to say and starting babbling and then I _really_ started to worry.

When I insisted again that she should tell me what it was, she looked me in the eyes and she said: "She's pregnant". I immediately remembered the fairy's words "_I'll defend them." _It had bothered me back then, but I had dismissed it without much though. _Them._

And then I almost blanked, and I swear that I don't know how I reacted. I just know how I felt: both extremely happy for Sookie and extremely sad for me.

This changed everything. And I needed to think things trough.

I needed to be alone. And so I left.

* * *

**So? Was it worth to post or not? Next chapter: Pam talks to Sookie about Eric + Sookie and David will meet for the first time after the Fae War. Should David forgive her the fact that Sookie hided a part of her life from him? And what about Eric? What will he do now that he "needed to be alone"?**

"**Cold Hard Heart"** **is the 13th song on the album "Destination Anywhere" (what a great album's title) by Jon Bon Jovi.**


	16. Father Time

**Hi! First of all, let me just answer some reviews that didn't allow the "reply" feature: yes, this Sookie has been kind of selfish and immature. But the thing is: when I started this fanfic, I got many reviews "against Eric" because he was moving on too fast (having sex with all those European girls, and so on). And so, I tried to "level the field" by showing that Sookie was not perfect either. And I guess that I might have exaggerated a bit... Oops! :) **

**Anyway, I love-love-love Eric and Sookie too, and I wouldn't dream of keeping them apart. But I'm an angst lover as well, and so I'm creating just a few problems for them before they get to have their HEA... But you just hang in there for a little while. They'll meet again in 2 or 3 chapters' time...**

**And now, without further ado, here's chapter 15. I hope you will like it and drop me a line. Célia**

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**Sookie "Father Time"**

Seeing Eric again, and knowing that he had fought for me, wondering about all those who had been in the war and their well-being, and still trying to recover from my attack was too much and I was dead tired that day. But, at the same time, I feared that I wouldn't be able to sleep because I was in fact very afraid to close my eyes and relax. I wondered if I'd ever really pull through from my assault.

But Pam's blood helped me a lot and I even managed to get some sleep that night. The next day, Dr Ludwig did some more exams and gave me good news regarding my baby, which was that the child was fine. Claudine stayed with me the whole time.

That same evening, David called me and we both cried on the phone for over an hour. He didn't ask anything about my fairy ancestry or my captivity. David just wanted to know that I was okay and that our baby was healthy too and he promised me that he would be cleared from the hospital on the next day. "I'll be there right next to you tomorrow at lunch. We'll be all right. The three of us will be alright honey." Awww. He said "the three of us". I almost felt my heart stopping at his words. And soon, we were talking about the future, baby names, schools, piano lessons, and either ballet or soccer as a sport, Disney movies, finger painting, and silly things like that. I couldn't wait to be with my husband again.

Pam came to visit again later that night and offered me more blood. After Dr Ludwig's approval, I accepted. Claudine and the doctor left and I drank from my friend again. She then sat by my bed as asked how I was. But _Pam_ was the one looking awful. Well, I mean: she was still perfectly tailored, her hair and make-up flawlessly arranged, but there was something else… Her back was curved and her face was as if she hadn't slept for a week.

I told her that I was recovering and that the baby looked healthy and strong.

"Did you want it? A baby?"

"We were talking about it. But not right now. This was a surprise. I… well, David really wants kids but I… I want them as well, but I'm just afraid of all these supernatural problems. I mean, the poor thing hasn't been born yet and has already been kidnapped and tortured…" I couldn't continue. I was a mess. I started crying like there was no tomorrow.

Pam waited for me to calm down and then she said: "You'll be alright. Niall is now as powerful as you can get. And you know we will always cover your back Sookie. You'll be all right. Both of you." There was a sad smile in her lips.

"But what if my child is telepath just like I am?"

"Then you'll worry about it when the time comes."

"But what if someone tries to take him or her away from me?" I was almost crying again.

"Nobody will. Like I said, Niall's pretty powerful now and you are his kin. And Eric has De Castro under control. He got him a new telepath last year in exchange for your freedom."

Hah? What was she talking about?

"He did?"

"Yeah."

"But…" I didn't add anything after the 'but'. However, there was definitively a question-mark tone about it and Pam felt it too because she said: "There was an opportunity and he took it."

Okay, I guess. Although, were there other telepaths? I knew we were as rare as you could be. My whole life, hell, Eric's whole life, we had only known about another one and… Wait. "It isn't Barry, is it?"

"Barry is Stan's telepath. Eric got De Castro a new one."

Eric got De Castro a new one? I wondered… "Why would he go to all that trouble?"

"He… It wasn't that much trouble. Eric has this friend and she knew about a telepath in Canada. She mentioned it to him. And Eric just had to pay to the guy. He wished to leave Canada. De Castro wanted a telepath. Eric just made it happen." My former tears had stopped by then. I was completely speechless. Why would Eric do all that for me? Well, he had fought for me. But… To give money to this person, to bring him from Canada, so De Castro wouldn't ask for me again… And I'd bet that my face transmitted my thoughts again because Pam felt the need to add: "Well, actually, it's kind of his job as De Castro's sheriff."

I just stayed there. Quiet. And looking at her as if saying: "Come on, do you expect me to believe that?" She read my face and answered it.

"I'm serious Sookie. Eric's friend Natércia knew about a telepath in Vancouver. She mentioned it to him when they were spending their vacations there. So, when Eric discovered a new telepath, he brought him to his king. There's nothing strange about that. He just used the opportunity to get you free, because if De Castro ever wanted you again, Eric would have to be the one retrieving you for the king. And Eric didn't even want to hear your name, let alone, be with you personally."

Yes. That made sense. Kind of. Somehow.

Pam continued talking: "So you see, you will be safe. And your baby will be safe. If he or she turns out to be telepath, then you'll be concerned about it when the kid is older. No need to lose sleep over it now."

I thanked her but then we didn't talk for a couple of minutes after that.

Suddenly, Pam took my hand and said: "I told him tonight." She didn't say who "him" was, or what she had told him about, but I knew it was Eric and my pregnancy.

I had never had a true relationship with Eric, just a few days with amnesiac Eric. But even if, by some strange reason, God had given us a break, and we had managed to stay together, a baby would be completely out of the picture. I'd never get pregnant with Eric. I knew he had had children when he was alive. I wondered if he would have wished he could have kids with me too. I was sure that I would have wanted to have Eric's son or daughter. And, for the millionth time, and for just a second, I wished Eric was just a human. Maybe if we had met on a sunny day, in a mall in Shreveport, we could have gone out to eat an ice-cream and… No. That would never happen. Not now and not ever. I had to come back to the present. And in the present Eric was a vampire and I was carrying David's child. And I was a happily married woman. But I was still concerned about Eric. I'd always worry about him. About his reactions. And I wished, with all my heart, that he wouldn't be mad at me.

"And how…?" I asked.

"He said it was wonderful news. He's sure you will be a great mom."

Okay. As if… "You're kidding right?"

"No. He told me that himself."

Hah? He said what? Wonderful news? Was the today-Eric _that_ different from the Eric I knew? "And… how is he?"

"Happy for you… I guess."

I knew that it wasn't just that. No. Eric wouldn't feel happy because I was pregnant by another man. He was Mr. Possessive. And Pam's voice sounded strange as well. There was something else and I had to know what. "Pam?"

"He left again. He said he wanted to be alone but… Sookie, I'm afraid. He looked so…" Pam paused for a few seconds, as if she wasn't sure if she should add her next words. But then she decided to speak them: "He still loves you, you know?"

My heart ached. I breathed deeply and then I said to Pam what maybe I should have told to Eric more than four years before: "And I still love him Pam. I'll always love him. I married David and I love him as well, but Eric will always be Eric. I'll never love anyone else the way I love Eric. He's my soul mate."

"So what the fuck Sookie? What gives?"

I smiled at her remark and then I answered: "I love him too much Pam. Emphasis on the "too much", okay? And sooner or later there would be something between us – he would drink and have sex with a fangbanger, or I would be angry because of some high-handed posture of his or eventually I would get old and he would lose his interest in me… And then Pam, I would die from a broken heart. That would kill me. I wouldn't move, eat or drink until death took me."

"Fuck. You guys are so stupid!"

"Well… Thanks for your insightful observation Pam." What did she want from me? I had lost too much: my parents, my Gran, my first love had been a scam... I didn't have it in me to gamble to lose Eric too. I had chosen to break free from him before things got more serious and I couldn't any more.

"Yes you are Sookie. You guys are fucking stupid. Fucking stupid! You're afraid you'll die if he loses interest in you? Well, I'm afraid he'll die tomorrow morning."

Eric dying? "What are you talking about?"

"He lost all hope of being with you ever again. Before he left… He sounded defeated and it was like he was saying goodbye Sookie."

"Call him." I said in a loud voice. There was urgency in my voice.

"What?" She looked lost. She hadn't intend to tell me all that and now she wasn't sure how to react. But Pam always knew what to do… So this uncertainty was totally not Pam-like.

"Call him now and then give me the phone." I insisted.

"Okay," she said immediately, "that might work". She took her cell phone and rang him. As soon as he picked the phone she handed it to me.

"Eric?" I asked into the phone.

"Sookie. I was told of your gracious state. Congratulations are in order. How are you?" His voice was sweet and calm. He didn't sound like the might do something… well, bad to himself. He didn't sound defeated. But it didn't matter how the sounded. I was still concerned about him.

"I'm worried." He didn't reply me and so I continued: "I'm really worried about you. I don't want you to do... any mistake. Okay Eric? Do you understand me? I need to know that you are alright, and that you are safe."

"I see." Eric's typical answer.

"Will you be okay Eric? Will you be safe?"

"I will," he answered me. But I needed more assurance of him.

"Promise me."

"Lover, I promise." And then he hung up. Hearing him calling me "lover" again reminded me of Pam's words. _He sounded like he was saying goodbye_. But then I remembered that Eric might not always tell me everything, but he always told me the truth. I knew Pam had heard both my and Eric's voice. I asked her what she thought about our talk.

"He did promise you…"

"And will that be enough?"

"Yes Sookie," her face was already lighting up a little, "I believe it will".

I couldn't keep talking about Eric and so I just asked her about the bars. It was a current talking point between us because I had worked at Merlotte's and my husband had a restaurant too. And so she talked about it for a while. She was really excited about this franchising project and she kept saying how much trouble and work it meant, but that they were earning good money. And besides, according to Pam, "Fangtasia" was now a recognizable brand and they were making even more money with merchandising its products than before. It felt good talking to Pam. Especially about "regular" subjects such as her bars and professional projects.

After a little more than an hour, Claudine entered my room. It was my meds time and Pam decided to leave then with a much better air than before: "Hey, you keep in touch, human! Call me!"

"You call me too vampire". And she left. I then took my medicines, kind of showered (I didn't want to break my stitches) and tried to sleep.

-x-

The next day I felt much better. I was still in pain but it was manageable now. And, obviously, I was excited I'd be with my husband again. David arrived at noon. He laid down next to me in my bed and hugged me without a word being spoken between us.

A couple of hours later, I had to go to the bathroom and he helped me. When we were back to the bed we started to talk. I tried to make sure that he was really recovering while he did the same with me. Dr Ludwig then entered the room and told us that we were all recovering from our injuries. And, more important, she gave us a picture of my sonogram. There was a tiny dark spot in the middle of clouds of grey and Dr Ludwig was pointing at it.

"That's the baby? That's _our_ baby?" David's voice was trembling.

"That's it!" The doctor answered.

"Oh my God!" It was so thrilling that I didn't know what else to say. Looking at that picture, I felt directly blessed by God. I started crying again. Oh boy! My hormones were already working in overtime.

"Calm down girl. You should rest now. And eat! Have you had lunch already?"

I said no and she immediately started lecturing me that I needed all my strength now. "I'll send someone in with food for you. And then I'll leave. I have other patients, you know? I'll be back tomorrow morning. I'll examine you again and then you'll probably be able to go home."

"Tomorrow?" I wanted to make sure that I had heard correctly.

"Yes. Tomorrow morning. Now eat and rest. And you bear, don't you tire her!" And then she left even before we could answer or thank her.

"What is she?" David asked me as soon as the door closed.

"I don't know. But she has treated me before and I absolutely trust her. The first time I saw her, I asked what kind of doctor she was, and she just said she was of the healing kind."

David kissed me silently. "I'm glad she healed you."

"Listen David…" I started saying. We needed to talk. We'd been speaking for a while now but we hadn't really talked. Not the important stuff. But he interrupted me:

"Not now honey. Later. Next week. Next month. I don't care. Just… not now. I'm still processing everything. It's too much to think about. I'm a were but I was never really into this crazy world. I… Now I just want to hold you and be happy that the little black dot is healthy and all right."

"Little black dot?"

He just smiled and kissed me again.

-x-

When we got home everything was clean and organized. There was a note in the mirror of our hall: "You're welcome. Pam". David then carried me to our room murmuring something like "autocratic vamps" but I knew he was glad our home was habitable. Our fight with the fairies that created a huge confusion there and not having to deal with it was great.

We both spend the next few weeks taking it easy, recovering and just hugging and kissing. It was like our honeymoon all over again. Well, minus the sex. I really didn't feel up for it and David did not even try.

Almost a month later we started to go to Brown's again. The staff had dealt with everything without major problems and I felt good to be back in my routine.

I kept being observed by Dr Ludwig and a little latter, when I entered my second trimester, we told everyone at Brown's we were expecting a baby. There were lots of "congratulations" and I loved it. And so I started making a few phone calls. I called Amelia, who said she was glad for me (Amelia was no longer living with Tray, but with another witch… or was it a warlock? Or male-witch?). Bill was still staying at Shreveport recovering from the silver poisoning, and so I called him too. He sounded somewhat better and he said he was drinking lots of blood from other vampires and he was recuperating. He didn't comment on my baby-news though.

Later that month, David and I traveled to Bon Temps, where I told my other friends about my good news. Jason and Tara, and Sam and everyone else at Merlotte's said they were really happy for us and wished us the best. The day after that, I also met Claude in the mall at Monroe (Claudine was in New York because of her work for the week and couldn't make it) and he was actually nice to me (for the first time ever).

When Claude left, David and I stayed there and we even bought a baby bodysuit (our first!). At 9 pm, Pam arrived and David somewhat politely excused himself. "So? How are you? And how's the little bundle of joy?" Pam asked.

"We're both healthy. How are you?"

"Same old. Same old. They want to franchise Bloodbath now. I got the call today. And Deadliest will be the next, I'm sure."

"Well. That's great Pam."

"Yeah. It is great." She said but without a single emotion in her voice. "But first things first: Eric's okay Sookie. He reacted in a good way. He's working, meeting friends, drinking fangbangers as always… He's alright. Actually, he's super. I had clearly overreacted before. He's… dealing with your condition. He's being the old Eric again."

"I'm glad for him. I was really worried."

"I know. And I have to thank you. Even thought I had obviously dramatized the situation without any reason for it, I also believe that your phone call helped him. So… thanks."

I smiled inside. Pam was thanking _me_.

She then asked again about my baby and I started telling her about my pregnancy and how it was to be carrying a child. I could tell Pam was a little uncomfortable with our topic, but she kept listening to me. And then she talked about _her_ babies: the bars and the franchising and I listened to her just like she had listened to me. More than an hour later, she left.

The next day, we traveled back to Tennessee. That night David asked me about my great grandfather, about my work for the vampires both in Dallas and Rhodes and about Eric. I told him the absolute truth and I told him everything.

"Will I ever meet this Eric? Your husband?"

"_You_ are my husband. And no. I don't think so."

"But you bonded with him… Can we… Is it okay that we married?"

I had wondered about it too before we had married, but Pam had explained it to me that it didn't matter. Vampire law just recognized vampire marriages. So my marriage to David "didn't count" on their books. Well, it was Eric's right to kill David because he had slept with me (yeah, I know… Vampires!), but other than that, I wasn't bigamous because for them I was only married to Eric.

"Yes. The bond just means that I can't belong to any other vampire other than him."

"But would you rather be with him?"

"I love you. I love our home. And I love our child that's in my tummy."

He kissed and hugged me. But he didn't smile.

"Are you mad that I kept these things from you?" I asked.

"Do you have any other secrets?" He asked. And those were the same words. Exactly the same words. It felt like déjà-vu. Last time I had lied to him. Now I didn't need to. "No. Not anymore."

"Then I'm not mad. I just hope that you won't keep anything else from me."

"I won't. I promise."

"I love you honey."

'Winnie the Pooh' again. Damn'it. I hated when he called me honey. But that wasn't considered a secret. It wasn't. Right?

"I love you too."

That night, for the first time since my kidnap, we made love again. But later when I was sleeping with David's arms around me, I dreamt of Eric showering with me at Gran's.

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**What did you think about the chapter? I know that Sookie didn't deserve such an understanding husband, but she is pregnant with his child, and I think that most men would forgive their wife. ****Next chapter will be an Eric's POV and it will have another small "time-jump". Now tell me: how do you see Eric dealing this all this? Should he get depressed? Or angry and dark? Should he stay in Louisiana? Or visit Ocella in Europe? Or Natércia in Canada?**

"**Father Time" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi and his long-time lead guitarist ****Richie Sambora.**


	17. I'll Be There For You

**Updating again? Just a couple of days after last chapter? Yes, because I'm leaving to Dublin tonight for the week and I didn't want to have you guys waiting too long for this chapter! My soccer team FC Porto is on the UEFA Europe Cup Final (we also won our National League Championship) and I actually took a week off work so I could be there to watch the game live - we're really soccer-obsessed here in Europe (and so am I...). But now, after paying for the air plane+game tickets, I'm just hoping that they don't lose the match! :)**

**Anyway, here's chapter 17. ****I hope you'll like this chapter and give me some feedback. ~Célia**

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**Eric "I'll Be There for You"**

Somehow, and I don't know why, Pam thought that I might meet the sun or something because of Sookie's pregnancy. Well, that had been a hard blow, for sure, but not one that would make me forget the privilege that's being… _me_. I just… I just _had_ to leave that night. And so I left Pam, after she told me the news, because I _really_ needed to be alone. I had to think. And I had to take Sookie out of my mind. Once and for all.

Being immortal gives us, vampires, lots of time. And when you have infinite time, you become a very patient being. And you know that eventually, and with time, the circumstances change. And if they've changed against you in the past, chances are, they'll change in your favor in the future. So, even though I had closed the bond and had been with Natércia for quite some time, deep down, I was still just waiting for Sookie to chance her mind.

"_I will not follow you. I will only hope that you'll come back."_ That had been my promise that night when Sookie left me. And I, unknowingly (even to me), was still waiting and hoping that she'd come back. But Sookie's child would change that. I had been a father when I was alive. And I still kind of was, with Pam. And I knew that kids change all. Sookie's priorities would change and would revolve around the child. She would not come back to Louisiana. Not anymore. Sookie would not come back to _me_. And so I needed to leave. So I could make myself understand this new reality.

I was not trying to kill myself. For fuck's sake: I was a vampire. A 1000-year old vampire. But Pam thought so, and she even made Sookie call me to beg me to stay safe. I almost laughed at her words. The irony. I would never meet the sun by my own hands, but Sookie (who was then asking me to be safe), had almost made me wish for death with her absence. Either way, I told her that I'd be alright and I kept trying to remove her from my thoughts.

Almost two months later, Pam entered my office with an "I have something to tell you" face. And she did. She told me that Sookie was back to Bon Temps to tell her friends about her baby.

"I'll meet her in Monroe tomorrow. That is… if you don't mind." She said.

"Not at all. Just don't come in here smelling like her, that's all." Pam nodded and kept looking at me. I unnecessarily breathed deeply and added: "And besides, I actually want you to meet her so you can tell her that I'm doing just fine. I don't want her worrying about me. Our relationship is no more, so we must sever all ties between us. And that includes her _unsubstantiated_ worry about me."

The way I said "unsubstantiated" told Pam what I thought about her fears a few weeks before. And Pam, thank the Gods, just nodded again and left without further commentaries. And I stayed here, trying to figure out, how in hell had all that happened to me. How did I, Eric Northman, felt for a girl that way? I really had to forget Sookie. She really had to come out of my system.

The next night, my phone rang a little after 10 pm. It was Pam. "She looks good. She's happy. She told me that she's on her second trimester already and it seemed important to her, for some unknown reason." Pam's voice sounded gleeful.

"And did you tell her?"

"Yes. I said that you were all right as well. She was happy. She said she worries about you."

Before Pam said (again) that Sookie still liked me, I thanked her, shut down my phone and left my office at Deadliest. It was time to entertain the vermin and choose who was going to be my dinner. I didn't _need_ to drink blood every night. But I _could_. So why wouldn't why? And so, sometime after I went to my booth, I picked a lovely dark-blonde girl, Kate, who was visiting her uncle and aunt in Shreveport for the week. I took her back with me to my office. She sucked me, I fucked her and then I drank her. She was all right and we had a good fifty minutes together before I dismissed her. Then it was time to work a little more and resolve a few problems regarding my area. Later that night, I received a couple of important vampires in my bar and then I went home.

The following two nights, I did the same routine. But instead of Kate, I chose the green-eyed and dark-haired Maria, my best waitress at Bloodbath, who was already married. But that didn't seem to bother her whenever I chose to be with her. And it sure as hell did not bother me. And so I did choose her, many, many times. She tasted good, she had a great smile and she always kissed my cheek whenever she left the room. Lust made humans want to be with us sexually. But a kiss in the cheek is an intimate act. And it's really rare for humans to be _that_ comfortable with us. So her kiss always made me think about Aude and our kids, because we used to kiss each others that way. Yes, Maria was a nice girl. And a good fuck too.

And so time passed. I worked. I fed and fucked. I traveled and checked the Fangtasia franchising and the new and first Bloodbath franchising too. I talked about franchising Deadliest at well. I met old friends. I met Natércia once or twice a year in Canada for a couple of weeks or so and we usually went to Europe for a couple of weeks too every year. I talked to Ocella on the phone sometimes. And I even stopped fucking Pam. That had been… wrong. In general, I kept living. As living as a dead vampire could be. And sometimes… Sometimes, I thought of Sookie.

I knew Pam talked to her. They even met quite often. Whenever that happened, Pam would tell me: "I met Sookie. Want to know anything?" I usually answered 'no', but sometimes my masochistic side would win and I would say 'yes'. And that was how I knew that Sookie had a 5 year-old daughter, Elizabeth. "They call her Lizzie," Pam told me once. And I also knew that she was still with her husband, she still worked at their restaurant and she still visited Bon Temps quite frequently.

"Bill's her golden boy," Pam also said to me one night, "since he almost died with the silver poisoning, he's like her private hero or something. I don't get it." I didn't get it either. I couldn't understand why she was able to keep in touch and be friends with her former boss, with Bill and hell, even with Pam, and not with me. Didn't she think about the two of us when she was with my progeny? Pam said she always asked about me, so I guessed she still thought about us, and that she still liked me. Unlike Niall.

When her daughter was born, Niall had wanted to officially test the kid, to see if she had the same fucking essential spark that he was always talking about. Sookie didn't authorize it, of course, and they fervently argued. "The only Fae she talks to are the twins: Claudine and Claude," Pam told me once, "I hope we won't have any more problems with the fucking fairies." I hoped the same. But, as usual, it doesn't matter what we hope. Things happen. And as the bumper sticker says, 'shit happens'.

And so, a little over than five years after Sookie's kidnap, I received a phone call that made me shiver.

"You remember how you wanted to know all the news of Fairy?" the voice asked. It was Gilbert, a close to 400 year old fairy-vamp. A former half-fairy turned over vampire, Gilbert (former Gilberael, when he was just a fairy) wasn't totally accepted by either vampires or fairies. But somehow, he always managed to get all the info he needed. He was a weasel. He would do anything he had to do to get his way. And you just couldn't trust him. Unless you were paying him. And I was. Big bucks.

"What?" I was in no disposition to talk to Gilbert. There was a new franchise to open in a few months but I was already expecting difficulties with the Arkansas' construction permits.

"This is hot stuff Eric. Hot, hot, hot. Will cost you…"

"Talk!" I almost screamed to the phone. Yes, I was in no disposition to talk to Gilbert. At all!

"Niall was hurt. Lemon hurt. He'll probably recover but he's on bed rest now."

"That's it?"

"No. Niall's on bed rest like I told you. But his enemies aren't. And there has been talking about maybe closing the portals, again. You know… like six years ago?"

"Shit." I had only one thought crossing my mind then. And it was: 'fucking fairies'.

"I'd say. But hey, there's more…"

"What?"

"Niall has five children still living: four full fairies and one half-fairy, Lincel. She's Niall's oldest but because she isn't full fairy and her essential spark isn't 100% like Niall's…"

"Again with the fucking spark?" I had to interrupt Gilbert. This subject once more? What was it with Fairies and sparks?

"Wait, listen: this Lincel chick, she wants Niall's place. She says it's her duty as the eldest to carry on her father's work while he's recovering. Two of her brothers and her sister don't care about it. But there is this other full-fairy brother, the oldest son, that doesn't agree, obviously. And so the mixture of human and fairy blood is on the spot light again. Do you have to be full-fairy to rein? Lincel says no. Her brother says yes."

"And that spark thing? You said that she doesn't have it like Niall's. Doesn't she need it?"

"That's where the crumble eats the cake, see? Lincel doesn't have the essential spark but her spark is pretty strong too. Actually, it's even stronger than her brother's spark. No one of Niall's still living five children have a pure, perfect essential spark. That's why your girl was such a finding that she was taken back then."

Fuck. "I see."

Gilbert continued: "So, there's stress firstly because Niall's enemies might attack now that he's weak and secondly even among Niall's kin."

"What else?" Gilbert's voice told me that he had even more to tell.

"They've been talking about your girl again."

"Who has?"

"The question is: who hasn't?"

"But why?"

"Niall has a grandson, Cisco'Ar, from his youngest daughter, who is a full fairy _and_ has the perfect essential spark. Great, right? Well, not so much! The kid is only 3 years old. And so, here comes your girl. Like I said, Lincel's spark is pretty strong and other than Cisco'Ar, there's only your Stackhouse human with a strongest spark. Without them both, Lincel's would be the closest to Niall's spark."

Shit. "But what the hell is the spark? Why does it matter?"

"Even fairies have Gods, Northman. And we believe that the purer our essence is and the brightest our spark is, the closer we are to Gods. A pure essential spark means you were touched by God. Chosen. And Niall failed because he didn't have a child with an untainted spark. The word on the streets say that he's supposed to marry again soon so he can have new children, hopefully full-fairy with perfect sparks children. But as of today, in his bloodline, there's only Cisco'Ar and your girl with perfect sparks. And then, there's Lincel with an almost perfect one."

"And how much does that Lincel want Niall's place? Do you think Sookie is really in danger?"

"I don't know. It's likely."

"When?" I asked.

"Well, if you are really serious about protecting her, you should do it soon."

"Thank you. You'll get your money".

As soon as I ended the phone call with Gilbert, I called Pam and told her everything. Then I asked her for Sookie's address. She was obviously shocked about my question.

"Will you go there? Yourself?" We were speaking on the phone, but I could almost see the elusive aging line that appears in her forehead when she finds something particularly odd and strange. But she didn't have to worry herself. I merely wanted to inform Sookie about these new developments. Nothing more. She was now a closed chapter in my life.

"Sookie needs to know that she might be in danger. If she was to be surprised with an attack without any warning because of me, that would be… bad. I mean, De Castro offered his protection to her once. And I cared for her at one time and…" I understood Pam's unease, but, really, there was no need anymore. Yeah, I still thought about Sookie on occasion, but now she was only a pleasant past memory, just like a few other women in my past. "Pam, she just needs to know about the danger, so she can defend herself. Nothing more. I'll just warn her, offer her our help if she needs it, and then I'll come back."

"Do you want me to go there instead of you?"

I knew why she was offering. But I also knew that there was no reason for her to be concerned. "Pam, it's been 10 years without the blood bond. I'm beyond all that now."

"If you are sure…" Her voice tone told me that _she_ wasn't sure.

"I am. I'll leave for Tennessee tonight. I'll visit her tomorrow."

"Should I call her? Tell you are on your way?"

"No. Don't do that. Well, I'm leaving. Text me her address and take care of things. I'll call you soon."

I went home, packed a few clothes and got in my car. Road travel. Traveling by night. On my way to Sookie's. Even without needing it, I inhaled and exhaled deeply. "_It's been almost 10 years without the blood bond. I am beyond all that now_". Yes, I believed I was.

-x-

I parked in front of the address Pam had given me. It was a nice home, two floors, probably three rooms, a small but well kept little garden in the front and the fucking white picket fence. There was also a pink bike with training wheels and a small, colorful, plastic slide in the front of the house. Almost 6 am. The house and the street seemed deserted. I smelled around me. No fairies.

I left her street and checked in a close hotel for the day. I'd be back that night.

When I woke up the next evening, I had a great urge to fly or drive immediately to Sookie's. And that urge scared me. I really didn't want, and I definitively would _not_, be caught in Sookie's "web" again. And so I didn't go there straight away. Instead, I went to the lobby and searched for my dinner. It would never cease to amaze me the number of young men and women that gravitate around vampire's hotels and bars because they wanted to be bitten. This was a crazy world post-Great Revelation.

I asked for a True Blood and I was immediately attracted to a couple of girls who were in the bar of my hotel. They were already drinking some alcoholic drinks even thought it was just a little after 6.30 pm. I sat by their side and even before I started talking to them, _they_ moved closer and asked what my name was. They were both tall for women, and one was green eyed and the other had dark blue eyes. They both had long, light brown, curly hair and they were dressed in similar dark red and black dresses. The clothes were tight and they both knew they looked good in it. Fifteen minutes later, I brought them upstairs to my room.

Brittany and Candy were roommates, wanna-be publicists, both recently arrived from College in Texas and excited that they were there with me. _Really_ excited that they were there with me. Their blood tasted average, but their sexual dynamic was great. Almost a couple of hours later, the three of us left the hotel, all satiated. I drove them to their apartment and then drove to Sookie's.

After I parked, I went to her door. I didn't want to wait another single minute. I could hear a child's heartbeat on the first floor. It was a little after 9 pm. The kid was almost certainly sleeping now. And I could hear Sookie's heart in what would probably be the kitchen. Water sounds as well. She was most likely washing the dishes. No more sounds. Where the fuck was her husband at 9 pm? He should be there. Protecting them!

Useless fucking bear!

I rang the bell.

* * *

**He rang the bell! Mini-cliffhanger! :) Hehe!**

**So, what did you think about this chapter? Was it Eric-like? And what do you think about Gilbert? I thought that he could really exist in Charlaine Harris' books - there has to be a vamp-fairy somewhere! And the fairy names? Are they believable? I had a blast trying to come up with "strange-faely" names. And do you think about this new "time-jump"? Anyway, I thank you for reading. And feel free to drop me a line. Cheers from Portugal, Célia **

**"I'll Be There for You" is a song by American hard rock band Bon Jovi from their 1988 album "New Jersey**"** and one of my favorites. ****Every time I hear the first notes, I have goose-bumps. And God… how I wish that Jon Bon Jovi or Eric Northman (or both) were here singing these words to me… **

"_**I'll be there for you; These five words I swear to you **_

_**When you breathe I want to be the air for you; I'll be there for you**_

_**I'd live and I'd die for you; Steal the sun from the sky for you **_

_**Words can't say what a love can do; I'll be there for you."**_


	18. Starting All Over Again

**My soccer team won! YAY! FC Porto won the UEFA Europe Cup! Yeeeaahh!**

**Anyway, here's chapter 18. I hope you'll like it and tell me your thoughts about it! I'd also like to thank Charhamblin for her help (and suggestion about a David's POV which is on its way) and Ms C. Harris for creating these characters (especially Eric… Yummy!). Have fun, Célia**

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**Sookie "Starting All Over Again"**

I was almost finished cleaning the kitchen when someone rang our bell. I immediately ran to the door, cleaning my hands in a kitchen's cloth. It was already past 9 pm, Lizzie was sleeping upstairs and I didn't want that bell to ring again. And that was probably the reason why I didn't check the peephole – I just wanted to prevent my daughter from waking up.

I opened the door and I saw him. Eric. My heart rate sped up and I felt like fainting – whether from the surprise, or because I was very scared or really happy, I didn't know. Probably all three reasons. All my mind could process was the fact that Eric was standing at my door. Eric. At my door.

"Hello Sookie," he said. In a second, I could feel my heart rate calming down just because of the sound of his voice. I was as nervous as you can get but I was actually calming down. Why? Well, probably because I had always felt cozy and safe with Eric.

But against all my Gran's social rules and my upbringing, I didn't answer his address to me. Instead I just stared at him for a few moments. I wanted to be sure that Eric was there. Almost ten years… Yeah, we had talked once after my kidnap but I was still kind of in shock back then and also a little high because of all that pain medicine I was taking. So for me, it really was as if I was seeing him for the first time in almost a decade. Jesus! A decade! I saw him staring back at me, and then I realized that I _still_ hadn't answered Eric's words.

"Eric," I finally managed to say. But that was as far as I could go. I couldn't say anything else. And I didn't know if I was answering him or just saying his name out loud to make it real. Either way, that was the only word that left my mouth. _Eric_. And I just stood there looking at him. He was exactly the same as before, obviously. He was still tall, blond, gorgeous, compelling, intimidating and frightening. And absolutely breath-taking. And I really mean breath-taking because I gasped when a minute or two later I tried to invite him in. My second attempt was better and I managed to ask him inside.

"It's been a while," I said when we both sat on the couch. _"It's been a while"?_ Oh my…! I must be completely out of my mind. What a stupid thing to say. Jesus! Was I dim-witted or what? But what else was there to say? I mean, there was a lot to say, a lot-lot-lot to say, but none of those subjects were anything that I wanted to talk about. So I just closed my mouth and used my eyes instead and I kept staring at him.

He was dressed in dark blue jeans, and a black leather coat. I could see a light blue t-shirt under his coat. His long, blonde hair was just as that first night when I saw him, in his Fangtasia throne. And I even had to fight the urge to run my fingers through his hair. But God! He was so good-looking. I guess I had forgotten how much. He really looked like a runway model. And I immediately felt self conscious of my yoga pants and my old, big sweater. Besides, I wasn't wearing any make-up and my hair was probably a mess! Oh, and there was also something else: I was 10 years older than the last time I had sat with him in a couch.

"Indeed." He answered me. Dammit! Even his voice was as perfect as before.

And his eyes too. They had always been a blue so pale and vivid that it had always made me think of electricity or a laser beam. And even thought I wasn't close enough now to see it, I knew they had a dark-blue rim around the iris and then an even mix of pale blue and white rays in the iris. Yeah, I wouldn't ever forget Eric's eyes. And because he was a vampire, it didn't matter that almost a decade had passed. Eric was still Eric. And he would always be. Yeah, a runway model was a pretty accurate description. Or rather: the greatest male model… _ever_.

"You look good." I managed to say. He looked… perfect, amazing, great.

"So do you," and I saw and I could even _feel_ his eyes roaming all over my body, "Tennessee suits you."

I just nodded, tried to smile and felt awkward. I knew I was different from before. I looked older and I _knew_ I was older. I _felt_ older. Yes, I was definitively worse than before. Eric had met me in my twenties. I was now a decade older, and I was a working mother. And Eric was… Eric. Before, when I was younger, I had always felt good with myself, and my body. But even then, I always felt a little self-conscious about me when Eric would compliment me. And now? Add ten years to that self-consciousness, some yoga pants and an old sweater, and you have plain old me. Eric's words were just that. Words. He was just being polite.

I remembered Gran's expressions too: "you are only as old as you feel". Haah! That might have been true pre-vampires. But not now. And definitively not when I was sitting next to Eric who was exactly like he was before. Well, not exactly. By complimenting me that way, he sounded even more polite than before. But then again, you should to be polite to your elders. And I sure felt like an elder then.

I had to end those thoughts. I had too. Maybe not speaking and just glaring at him wasn't such a bright idea either. I had to say something.

"I'd offer you a True Blood, but I didn't... ahh..."

"I've already eaten tonight, thank you." He had already eaten… A huge pang of jealousy ran through me. He had probably drunk from some blond, stupid, trailer-trash bimbo… And even thought I had no right, it bothered me. So I decided to change the subject. Thinking about Eric biting other women was just too painful. I knew he did it, obviously. He had to. But I didn't want to think about it. Or… talk about it. Yes, a new conversation topic was needed. ASAP.

"So…" I eventually said a moment later, "Why are you here Eric?"

"Am I not welcome?" His question was immediate.

Oh, yeah. Right. It had probably sounded that way. But it hadn't been my purpose. I just wanted to change the subject. And to tell you the truth, I was curious too. It was not every day that Eric Northman showed at my doorstep. And apparently, it was a once in a decade kind of thing. So my curiosity had a reason to exist. Never, in my wildest dreams, had I thought that Eric would be there, in my house in Cleveland, Bradley County, Tennessee. "No. No. It's not that. Of course you're welcome here. I was just… wondering why."

"We were friends once. I came to visit."

And then… I laughed. And I laughed loud. Yeah, sure. Eric Northman, vampire _extraordinaire_, came all the way from Louisiana to Tennessee, without any reason, just to visit. Yeah. That made _total_ sense! He smiled back at me and I felt the awkwardness starting to dissipate. I took a deep breath and felt as if I had been holding it for the last ten years.

Then, all of the sudden, everything tensed again with his next question: "Where is your husband?"

"David's… ahh…. We had some problems and… he's not living here now."

"Definitely?"

"Yes."

"Where does he live?" Uh-oh, here we go.

"It's close. He rented an apartment 10 minutes from here."

"Did he leave you just like that?"

"We both decided it was for the best if he lived somewhere else."

"When did he leave?"

"Six months ago."

"Does Pam know?"

"I didn't tell her."

"Why didn't you?"

"This is a private matter. There was no need to tell her."

"That's not a reason. You've told her private things in the past. Tell me: why didn't you?"

Eric's tactic of shooting question after question resulted. Because without even pondering my answer, I just said: "I didn't want her to tell you." When I realized what I had said, I consciously tried to shut my big mouth. Besides, I was starting to get fed up with his questions. I really wanted to end those.

"Why not?"

"Because." Good Sookie. I had kept my big mouth quiet. And yeah, I was definitively fed up with his questions.

"Why. Not." He repeated with a little pause between his words.

"Be-cause." I repeated as well, with the same pause between the syllables.

He stopped his questions for a minute and we just looked at each other. I thought that I was off the hook already. But I wasn't. "What were the problems?" he asked.

Eric was definitively Eric. And I already knew that whenever he started something, he could go on forever. Eric had always been like the freaking Duracell Bunny. Yes, he was an Energizer Rabbit all right; he just kept doing it non-stop. Well, I didn't mean… You know… _that!_ Well, actually that too. But I just meant that once Eric focused into something he could continue functioning for a longer amount of time before his battery run down. And I definitely didn't want to talk about my separation from David. I just… didn't.

"What is this Eric? 20-20? Why the questions? What is it to you why my husband left or where he is?"

Obviously, questions were allowed. But not _my_ questions. Just Eric's. And so he changed the subject. "You have a daughter," I nodded looking at him. I tried to figure out how he felt about my daughter but, as a vampire, I couldn't listen to his mind and without the blood bond I couldn't feel him. And his face was expressionless. As always. "Elizabeth," he added. I didn't know if Pam told him about our talks. Apparently, she did.

"Yes. Lizzie."

"I would like to see her. Is it possible?"

"She's sleeping now." I answered. He looked almost… sad? "But once she's down, she sleeps pretty well." I added. "Come upstairs to see her. But you have to be quiet. Like I said, she's sleeping." I got up and before I even realized what I was doing, I took his hand to show him the way. But when we touched, I felt some sort of electrical shock between us. So I took my hand off his quickly and walked towards the stairs. I could feel Eric behind me and I could almost feel his eyes on my back. And it made me nervous. Really nervous.

When we got to Lizzie's bedroom, I stayed by the door but he kept walking. He crowded in front of the bed. I couldn't see his eyes with the lights off but just as I knew the exact color of his eyes, I also knew that he was staring intently.

We stayed there for 5 or 10 minutes, in silence, before he got up and came to the door.

Lizzie sleeps with the door open and so I left it that way and started walking down the hall. Eric grabbed my arm and I turned to him. "She's beautiful Sookie. She looks like you." My answer was just a smile and he continued: "And she smells like you as well."

"And her father?"

I had always wondered if supes would be able to smell Lizzie's supernatural heritage. Pam had never even met Liz, and I didn't want to ask David in case he'd see my question as an accusation (we had always decided that Liz would be brought up as "regularly" as possible).

"Yes, there's some were in your daughter. But there's much more you. I could tell she is yours in a second." I smiled again, and he asked. "Can she hear people's thoughts?"

"No, thank God," I replied, "at least not yet. And in my earliest memories, when I was a child, I was always able to do that. Sometimes I even try to send her thoughts, but so far, he can't listen anything. I'm hoping Lizzie's completely normal. Well… ah… her father's a were, but I'm not, so she might not have to change, even at full moon nights. Like... never. I guess we will have to wait a few years, until she's a teenager, to know that for sure. I'm hoping she doesn't have to change but David's confident that she will. I don't know. I just care for her and I hope for the best. That's everything a mother can do for her children and…" I was babbling. I always babbled when I was nervous. Or with Eric. And now I was nervous _and_ with Eric. So I just shut up, I breathed deeply and then I said: "No. She doesn't."

"I am glad for you. She looks like a great kid." I am always proud of my daughter. But when other people praise her, my pride skies rocket. And Eric's praise? Well, that meant even more.

"She is." I answered and we continued into the hallway, and down the stairs.

We sat on the couch again.

"Is she…" Eric started but then he didn't finish his question. I could tell this was something hard for him to talk about. Whatever it was. But soon he continued: "Is she… children that is… Did you leave because I couldn't give you children?"

"No." And that was the truth.

"I can't feel you any more. But I was a father once and I see your face and hear your voice when you talk about your daughter. She is the most important part of your life."

"Yes, she is. And I would die a thousand deaths if that meant protecting her. But back then I didn't know this. That was not the reason why I left."

"Why did you?"

"I just had too. It was a compulsion of sorts. I knew I wouldn't deal well with the road my life was taking."

"Do you mean me?"

"We were too different Eric. And I was afraid. I didn't want to be hurt or end up dead. Or undead, for that matter. And let's face it. I would either die or someone would turn me sooner or later. And I sure didn't want it. I needed peace. And normalcy. And I had already suffered with Bill's cheating on me and…"

"I am not Bill," he interrupted me.

"I know. It's just that… We had those days, but then you forgot everything. And when you remembered it again, you vanished. I waited months without a single phone call. I called you, I went to Fangtasia, but you never replied to my messages. And the first time I heard from you after that was the night of the… knife thing and then I just realized that I…" I stopped. I wasn't sure if I should be telling Eric this. It was all water under the bridge now.

But Eric wouldn't let me be, and so he asked: "You what?"

I sighed. See what I meant when I said "Duracell Bunny"? I didn't want to talk about any of this. But he did. And so he insisted until I broke. I knew he'd keep asking me question after question until he got his answers. And so I just said it. "I loved you too much I guess. And I was afraid that you would break my heart."

Eric stayed in silence until I looked him back in the eyes. And just then, he said: "I loved you too much too. And you did break my heart when you left."

I shut my eyes when I heard his words. And I felt a pain swelling in my chest. In that second I realized that maybe I had wasted 10 years in my life. No. Not maybe. I did waste time. I could have been happy with Eric for the last decade. But I wasn't sorry. Any road that didn't include Lizzie was the wrong choice.

But that didn't mean that I wasn't sorry for Eric. _"I loved you too much too."_ Oh my God. If only he had said it back then. If only he hadn't vanished from my life all those months after he remembered everything. _"And you did break my heart when you left."_ Well, Eric had always been good to me. And he sure didn't deserve to be hurt. I had to make it better. I just had to.

I got up from my place and then sat by him and I grabbed his hand. His thumb began rubbing the back of my hand, just like he used to do. I kept looking at our hands, and then I said "I'm sorry." I knew that after a decade, my words sounded empty, but that was all I could say.

"So am I." He answered before he touched my chin with the hand I wasn't holding to make me look at him. I knew he wanted to kiss me but wasn't sure if he should. I just knew it. And then I saw his Adam's apple move. Like he was swallowing saliva. It was such a human gesture and I knew he did it involuntarily. He was just nervous. I closed the gap between us and my lips touched his. For a second. Well, actually maybe even less than a second.

I opened my eyes and I saw Eric on the other couch in my living room. His chest was moving as if he had just run a marathon and was trying to catch his breath. But I knew he didn't need to breathe that way. Well, he didn't need to breathe _at all_. Let alone _that_ way. Was that… my kiss? So why did he move away?

"Eric?"

"No Sookie. Just… no."

"What…" I started saying while I was getting up to move closer to him.

But then he raised his arm and his hand with this "stop" kind of movement and said: "Stay there. Please stay there."

It was as if Eric was afraid of… _me?_ But that was just… comical. He was much faster and stronger than me but he did look like he was scared that I would hurt him. But why? And then I heard his words again in my mind: _"You did break my heart."_

I couldn't let it stay that way. So I started to say: "Eric, please let me just say that…" But then he made the same "stop gesture" for the second time.

I didn't care and I insisted: "Eric, about what happened when I left and about the two of us, I have to explain that..." And then I saw his hand for the third time and he interrupted me: "I have absolutely no interest _at all_ in hearing anything that you have to say about the two of us."

And my jaw dropped. Eric didn't want to hear me? But I was… It was me! I had never thought that he wouldn't want anything to do with me… He had fought for me 5 years ago, and he was at my house now, and… My God. He wouldn't even listen to me so I could apologize. I felt my heart splitting in half.

"I must go now," he said. And then, he just... left.

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**Is he coming back that night? Or is he going back to Louisiana and ask Pam instead to call Sookie and tell her about the fairies? And in the meantime, will she be attacked? Or are the fairies just "nice Tinkerbells"? And why did Sookie and David separate? Ahh… the possibilities. Lol**

**One detail: yes, Sookie is getting older. But she's doing it much slower than us, regular folks. So, you mustn't pay too close attention to all her self-consciousness about herself. She only looks slightly older than before. **

"**Starting All Over Again" is the second song of the second CD of the "****100.000.000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong" b****ox set (2004).**


	19. Lie to Me

**Hello! So here's chapter 19 - my first (and probably last too) David's POV. Please bear in mind that David is telling things **_**his **_**way (and "He who tells a tale adds a tail" and all that). I hope you'll like this chapter. And please review if you can. Take care! :) Célia**

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**David "Lie to Me"**

Mondays had always been the staff's rest/closed day of Brown's Rest & Grill ever since my parents helped me buy the place 15 years ago, when I was 27. If I knew back then the work I'd have to do to give the place a new clientele, I'd have opened a new eating place from scratch. The previous owner had managed the place poorly and so I had to fight against all of the bad opinions about the restaurant that he had created. And that's why for the first four or five years, I had to work my ass off just to make enough money to pay the bills and the staff's wages. And so, Mondays had turned out to be the perfect night for me to work the books of the restaurant and other bureaucratic shit. And there's _lots_ of bureaucratic shit when you have a restaurant.

You must have the Shop & Establishment license up to date, as well as the frequent visits of both the Fire and the Electrical departments. Besides, there's the Municipal health permission, PAN Card, Professional tax registration, VAT, the Insurance and so on. And, obviously, the books. Add to all these formalities the need to make some cash to pay for all that, plus all the staff documents and the fact that you must have everything that you might need there (food, beverages, cleaning stuff, etc.) without exaggerating it (because you don't want to waste space stocking stuff – you need to maximize the number of tables). So, yeah, during those first four or five years I worked every Monday night. I'd have the day off, but then I'd go back to the restaurant at 6 or 7 pm and stay there until at least 11.30pm.

But then, all of a sudden, people started trusting the place because we had a good quality-price relationship. And when things started calming down, I mean, when all the bureaucratic shit started calming down and the client flow started to expand, I just increased my staff and stop working the tables or the bar counter. Instead, I'd mainly focus on the management of the place and not so much about the operational part of it. And I stopped working on Mondays nights.

I had had the place for seven or eight years when Sam Merlotte called me about this chick. I knew Merlotte from some time ago. We'd worked together in a bar in Texas when we were in our early twenties and we had managed to stay more or less friends ever since. Besides, we had something else in common: we were both the first-born of a two-natured couple and neither of us had any interest in this inheritance – the capability to change. And now, he was calling me because of a girl. Apparently, she was a waitress at his place but she needed a "new start" – something about a nasty break-up with a boyfriend or some shit like that.

"She's more than a good waitress Brown. She's a good friend too. And I'm really sorry that she's leaving Bon Temps. But I know that this is what she wants and she'll leave no matter what . I'd feel better if she was somewhere with a person who could keep an eye on her." He was saying on the phone.

"All this because of a boyfriend you say?"

"Yeah… Sort of." He answered.

There was something there. I could tell. Perhaps Merlotte was the boyfriend and he just wanted to get rid of her. I could understand that. I had met a couple of chicks before that I had _really _wished they'd move out of state. But I didn't need someone else's problem at my restaurant. And so I said: "Sort of? Listen Sam, I am looking for a new waitress. I need one. But I don't want some bimbo who only wants to nail a stupid guy willing to pay her bills," he tried to interrupt me saying that she wasn't like that but I was on a roll and I kept talking, "and truthfully, I find it hard to believe that a girl would move like that to a completely new place just because her boyfriend messed up with their anniversary date or some similar shit."

"It's nothing like that at all. She and the guy, they… they have this weird, strong connection. And when things didn't work out it was a hard blow for her. And she doesn't have any family, except for a wild brother. She just needs a fresh start, that's all. And I completely vouch for her. She's my best waitress Brown."

I kept trying over the phone for him to acknowledge if he was "the guy" with the "weird, strong connection" but he didn't say one way or the other. And so I said that I'd meet the girl. She'd stay a couple of months as a trial to see if she was indeed a good waitress and then we'd go from there.

And just a couple of weeks later this blond hot piece of ass comes into my restaurant saying that she's "Sookie, sent by Sam". And let me tell you: she had the perfect rack. And in just a couple of minutes Merlotte raised in my consideration because he had probably been _there _and done _that, _if you get what I'm saying.

And better yet, the cute thing was a good waitress too. She hardly ever made any mistakes, either with the orders from the clients or the money, and she lightly flirted with the clientele and made them feel welcome at Brown's.

Because Merlotte was two states away and I was her new employer, I immediately made my move. But she was shy and at first started to say 'no' to me. But soon she accepted my invitation and we had dinner together. Nothing happened, but I had a good time, so I asked her again, and again. And a few more times. And suddenly, the hot piece of ass with the perfect rack was not only a blond babe, but rather she was Sookie, my friend. My _without benefits_ friend. But I didn't mind. Sookie was nice and funny and we always had a good time together. And about a year later our dates started to include some action. Some _sexual_ action.

And that was how I found myself with a girlfriend that was actually a friend too _and_ had great tits. When I realized all that, I asked her to move in with me. And that was when I had to deal with the first (and by no means last) Sookie-bomb. And unfortunately for me, it was not a Sookie-_sexual_-bomb. It was a Sookie-_lie_-bomb. She could… listen to this: read minds. Yeah, read minds. As in, hear people thoughts. Jeez.

I almost ended everything with her because of it. Not so much because of the mind-reading part of it, but more because of the "not-telling me" detail. I mean, yeah, the fact that she could read my thoughts bothered me, but she gave me her word that she could hardly hear me, and most times not at all. And she was already a good friend and she had a great body. I mean, she was already my girlfriend, you know? Besides, being telepathic wasn't her fault any more than being a bear was my fault. About keeping it a secret… Well, yeah, she should have told me about it (namely when we first started talking about my full moon nights) but I let it be.

In retrospective, that was the first sign - _crystal clear_ first sign (and my easiness to forgive her secret was my first mistake - my first _big_ mistake). The second sign were her old friends that included a fucking vampire and a mousy witch. The fact that they were both her friends really bothered me because I really hated all supernatural things (my double nature included). I should have seen that it was strange that Sookie, who claimed to hate the supernatural world as much as me, was best friends with a vampire and a witch. I mean: she hated _supes_ but was friends with those two? However, I didn't see it either because back then I was already way over my head with Sookie Stackhouse.

And soon we were married and a couple of years later we were celebrating her pregnancy. We had been talking about kids for a while but this baby in particular was the product of her flu-antibiotics' interaction with her birth control pill. Either way, we were happy and celebrating with non-alcohol champagne when we were attacked by fairies. By. Fucking. Fairies.

And after the attack I found a few more Sookie-bombs. It turned out that she had worked for vampires for at least a couple of years (she had even been out of state because of her "work"), she had dated one of them and had even married another vampire. Married him. Jesus. "The guy" that she had actually run away of Louisiana for apparently was a _dead_ guy. And _she_ was a fairy. A fucking fairy. How lame was that? No. The fact that she was a fairy was not lame. I was lame. I was a fucking doormat and I had been totally clueless about everything. Shit.

I, again, forgave Sookie for her half-truths, of course. Hell, she was my injured, pregnant wife. And I loved her. I truly loved her. And I believed that she loved me too then. So I _had_ to forgive her. But I didn't forgive myself. My unborn child might not have even been born because I had allowed that attack. My ignorance of the supernatural world had put our family in danger and I wouldn't allow that to happen anymore. And so I started hanging more with Cleveland's werewolves' pack master, Walter "Nurget" Williams. He had a choppers and motorcycles' shop and because of my beautiful 1940's Indian Scout (that came with very large fenders) we were already acquaintances.

And that was the beginning of the end for Sookie and me, as a couple. Even after our attack (and don't get me talking about all the other shit that had happened to her in Louisiana when she had been "working" for the vampires), Sookie didn't want to be close to other supes. Not even for protection. On the other hand, I started feeling much safer because I knew that the guys would cover our back if we considered it necessary, because I was also available to help the packs whenever it was needed. And so, we just started arguing about it. All the time. And whenever I suggested that Liz might have to turn on full-moon nights because she was particularly fast and showed great resistance in her swimming lessons (were-bears are strong swimmers even in our human form because true bears swim across bays or wide leads without hesitation and they can swim for several hours at a time over long distances), Sookie would lose her mind. And we'd either be almost screaming at each other, or not talking at all.

Suddenly we were no longer the Sookie and David from before. We still lived together, but we were just a little more than room-mates. And even that was only because of Liz. But eventually, not even that situation was enough for us. We separated. I left the house I had bought with my wife and moved to a close by apartment. And without a house with a wife and a kid, soon I was working Mondays evenings again.

And there I was, on a Monday evening at Brown's, when my cell rang. I looked at the screen and saw Sookie's name. I had already talked to her that night. I knew that both she and Liz were at home. What the hell did she want now?

"What is it now Sook? Is Liz alright?" I said as soon as I answered the phone.

"Yeah, she is. Aahh…"

She was still trying to figure out what to say when I asked: "What? What is it now? If Lizzie's okay, what the hell do you want Sookie?" Yes, our current relationship was _that_ bad.

"I… I…" And then she started crying. Well, not crying-crying, but quietly sobbing. "I'm just not feeling so good right now. I won't be going to Brown's tomorrow. I'll stay at home. I just… I wanted to tell you that."

"What is it? Are you sick?" I asked. Bad relationship or not, Sookie was my daughter's mother and I wanted her to be alright.

"It's probably just a stomach bug or something. I just need a day off, that's all."

For a second I wanted to insist. To ask her what was wrong. Maybe even go there personally. But we were way past that. That train had long derailed. And she'd call back if she really needed something.

"Okay. We'll talk again tomorrow then," I called every night right before Lizzie's bed time, so I could talk to my daughter, "and don't worry, I'll call Anna right now and tell her to fill in for you tomorrow."

"Thank you David. Goodnight."

"'Night."

For a couple of minutes I stayed there just wondering what the hell might be going on with Sookie. And I almost prayed that she wouldn't be keeping anything else from me. After that Fae shit (when she had been pregnant with Liz) we had talked and talked and talked. And I had made her promise me dozens of times that she would always trust their safety to me. It was my job to keep my family safe. And with the Were community I now knew, I was in a position to protect my family if necessary.

And she did promise me that she'd trust their safety to me. So I dismissed my concerns about her phone call. Hell, maybe it was just a stomach bug. Or she might have eaten something not fresh, or it might be the flu…

Unfortunately, however, that was not the case. And I discovered it two days later because on Wednesday morning, at 7 am, she called me back. I had stayed on the restaurant until a little over 1 am on the night before. And she knew that that was our schedule. But now she was calling me at 7 am. That had to mean that some shit had happened. I grabbed the cell phone and immediately pushed the green button.

"Is Liz okay? Are you?"

"Yes David, we are."

On the previous evening, when I called, Liz picked the phone and I hadn't talked to Sookie. My daughter had told me that Sookie had a head-ache and she was laying on the couch, with a wet cloth in her forehead. But she also said that her mom that told her to say that she was coming to work on Wednesday. And that had given the "stomach bug or flu theory" more credibility. But now Sookie was calling me at 7 am. Shit. "You sure you're both okay?"

"Yes, we are. But I need you to come here now. Can you?"

That _still_ didn't sound good. Not at all. "Why?"

"I thought that we could both take Liz to school and then we'll talk."

What the hell…? "Talk about what?"

"I just… I need you David. There's something we have to talk about. And it's very serious. Can you please come home right now? Just for a while?"

"_I need you David"_? Was she…? Was this a reconciliation attempt? I had thought that she'd never forgive me for Ashley. When Sookie had found out about my affair she had totally lost her shit. Ashley was way younger than Sookie, she was a were-bear _and_ she had had my son. Now... had Sookie somehow let go all her resentment against me? Would she start doing things _my_ way? I realized that I didn't know if I was happy or pissed with that possibility. Probably both. Shit. Either way, I had to know what she was talking about. I had to go to Sookie. "Give me half an hour and I'll be there."

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**So? What did you guys think about this chapter? And about David's character? He does say "shit" a lot, right? :-) Well, next chapter, a Sookie's POV, will start right after the end of chapter 18. See you then! Célia**

**"Lie to Me" is a single from Bon Jovi's 1995 album "These Days". **"_**If you don't love me - Lie to me / 'Cause baby you're the one thing I believe / **__**Let it all fall down around us, if that's what's meant to be / Right now if you don't love me baby - Lie to me."**_


	20. I Want You

**Hi! First of all, I want to thank Charhamblin for her help and suggestions. Now, here you have chapter 20! It starts immediately after the end of chapter 18, when Eric leaves her house on Monday night and it includes the first Sookie-David phone call. I hope you'll like this chapter. Take care! Célia (PS: to answer some reviews - no, Sookie is not pregnant nor gravely sick)**

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**Sookie "I Want You"**

"I have absolutely no interest in hearing anything that you have to say about the two of us," he paused looking at me, "I must go now," he said. And then, he just... left.

Like on that fateful night, at Fangtasia, when I had asked him to let me go, suddenly I found myself looking at an empty sofa. That time, he had heard me and then left me there. Just as I had asked. But this time I had tried to talk to him, to explain, to ask for forgiveness. But he hadn't let me.

And then I realized that I couldn't blame him a bit. I had been so selfish when it came to Eric that I had never given him a fair chance. No matter what Bill did to me when we were dating, I had always believed him, and I had always forgiven him. And even David. God knew how much crap from him I had swallowed because I didn't want to upset him and because I was trying to keep our marriage intact because of Liz. But not Eric. I hadn't ever given him a chance. And now he was stomping on my heart like I had stomped on his.

I had left Eric almost a decade before because I didn't want to suffer like this. I didn't want to fall in love with someone who'd break my heart. But my brilliant theory had had a major flaw. I had already been in love with Eric way before that night. And I still was.

But if Eric didn't want to talk to me about us, what was the reason behind his visit? I grabbed my cell and called Pam but she didn't answer her phone. I wondered if it was on purpose... Or was she just busy? I suddenly felt immensely alone. I had no one to talk to. I felt sad, weak and without any strength in me. And then an awful thing happened because I heard most of my neighbors' thoughts. Normally we didn't hear their voices at our home unless they were screaming. And they sure weren't yelling now. And that left just one option: I was _indeed_ hearing their thoughts. And that was only happening because my shields were completely down. To hear people that far away… Yes, I was really weak and without any strength in me.

I knew that I'd never be able to work the next day without my shields, and so I called David and told him about a possible stomach bug. In the middle of all the lies, half-truths and hidden truths I'd told him over the years, this small lie almost didn't count.

I got up, closed the door with the key and then shut down the kitchen's lights and went to bed. I didn't even brush my teeth. I just took off my shoes, covered myself inside my bed sheets and blankets and a couple of hours later I felt asleep.

The next morning my shields were as bad as the night before and taking Liz to her pre-school was a hardship. I spent the rest of the day at home, in my bed, thinking about Eric. But eventually, during the day, I got some of my strength back and I was able to shield a little again, even if it was just slightly better than on the night before. And later that day, when I picked Liz up at the swimming pool, it was even easier to shield. Dinner was an easy Macaroni and Cheese and by 8.30pm Liz was already sleeping.

An hour later, I felt a vampire's void mind and I heard my door bell. I ran to my door and for the second consecutive night I opened the door without checking the peep-hole only to find Eric on the other side. This time he was wearing even darker jeans, the same black leather coat and a black t-shirt. I hoped that his dark cloths didn't mean anything. And I wished that I had thought about dressing better because I was still with yesterday's yoga pants and another big, old sweater.

"I… I…" he said. Or rather, he mumbled because he didn't know what to say.

Thankfully, I did: "Please come in."

We walked to my living room and I sat on the big couch whereas he sat on the small one in the other side of the room. Okay. So he still didn't want to be close to me. It hurt me a little. But I could deal with it. He _had_ come back. And that had tp be a good thing. Right? Now I just had to figure out why and try to get him to listen to my sincere and heart-felt apologies.

We stared at each other for a couple of minutes and then we both said at the same time: "Yesterday I…" And then we both shut up.

"Go ahead Eric. You first." I told him.

"No. You can go first Sookie."

I took a deep breath and then I asked: "Will you leave again if I start to talk about us?"

"I'll try not to. I'm sorry I left that way yesterday. I remembered I had… ahhh…"

I knew why he had left. And it wasn't because he _"had"_ anything to do or anywhere to go. It was because of me. Because I had hurt him. Because I was this bad person and I hadn't realized Eric had really loved me when I was thinking that I was only his "flavor of the week". Okay, maybe his "flavor of the semester". I had been a silly, selfish girl. I had caused both of us pain. And if there was someone who didn't deserve it because he had always been there for me, it was Eric.

I just… I had to grovel for his forgiveness. I just had to.

And then, I freaked out. Yeah, something inside of me just clicked or tilted or something and I turned into a crying maniac because I started to behave in a completely irrational and uncontrollable way. And then tears started rolling down my face, and I just kept hyperventilating while at the same time I started to say that I was sorry for my past behavior. But I could only cough. Yes, apparently crying, hyperventilating and talking at the same time is not possible. At all. And the only thing that came out from my attempt to do it was just a wild cough.

So, for some minutes, I just tried to speak but I coughed instead and I saw him just standing there, looking at me while I felt I was the most unfortunate person in the world. I had been self-centered and juvenile about Eric. I had never given him an opportunity because I had been too afraid that he'd hurt me. And I had run away from him, just to find myself with David, who did cheat on me. And now Eric didn't even want me to talk to him.

So yeah, I was feeling really bad about myself. But somehow I still understood the reason why I had left Louisiana… Well, why I had left Eric. And it had been (and it still was) a valid reason because Eric _had_ remembered everything about us, but then he had _vanished_. Just like that. And he hadn't talked to me for months after the takeover. _Months_. And the first time he had called me back after all that time, he then tricked me into marriage. And I still felt I had had the right to be upset with him. The only problem in all that reasoning was the fact that I was still as madly in love with him as I had ever been. And _that_ little detail was preventing me from breathing then and there.

But Eric, God bless him, soon moved close to me again and grabbed my hands. "Stop. Just stop Sookie. Calm down." But I didn't. I kept having my panic attack for a few minutes. Well, for close to half an hour actually. Until I looked at his face and I saw his eyes. I saw the mix of pale blue and white rays in the iris that I knew so well. And I calmed down. Almost immediately.

We stayed in silence for a while, sitting next to each other and holding hands, like a couple of twelve years old. And as I had done every single time in our past, I broke the silence between us: "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I was just scared of that cough. You almost looked like you could not breathe."

"Yeah, that too. But that's not what I meant. I meant that I'm sorry for leaving Louisiana. And you. I… I should have stayed and talked to you."

"Yes, you should have."

"I behaved like a scared child."

"You did."

"I know. And I am sorry. And I should have said that I was sorry before. You didn't deserve the way I treated you."

"I thought I was also your friend back then."

"You were. You've always been. And I am so sorry Eric. Will you forgive me?" I asked. But he didn't answer. He just stayed there, still looking at me. And then, his hands moved away from mine and I felt I still had to try to plead with him. "Please Eric, please forgive me. You were my friend. Please say you'll still be. You were always good to me, and you cared for me and you even…" And then I thought about all the times he saved my life, comforted me and made me feel good about myself. And I shut up. And then my panic attack started to come back again, because I started to breathe excessively hard and fast again.

But this time Eric was next to me already and he just hugged me and "_schh_-ed" me. My face was now in his leather coat, and I could smell his manly, dry scent. I moved my head so I could see Eric's eyes again, but instead I saw his smile. And I just smiled back at him while one of his hands tried to dry the tears from my cheeks. I was completely calm again in Eric's arms when I saw him putting his wet finger in his mouth so he could taste my tears like he had done in what seemed like a life time away.

I didn't stop to think if I was forgiven, or if tasting my tears had some deep meeting about sharing my grief or something. Actually, I didn't think at all. I just moved. Towards Eric's face. With my face. And I kissed him again. And, like before, he didn't respond to my kiss. But he hadn't moved to the other sofa either. So I kept kissing him and I whispered "please" before I moved my tongue inside his mouth.

Two seconds later both of his hands were on my face and he was responding to my kiss. And you know what? Muscle memory is a something else all right, because my arms immediately hugged his neck and my legs straddled his. His hands moved to my back and he rolled his pelvis into me. He hugged me closer and started kissing my neck. Oh. My. God! Eric was hugging me _and_ kissing my neck!

My heart was beating frantically and my breathing was completely irregular again. But this time, it wasn't a panic attack. It was a lust and love attack. I was just feeling too much because I was in Eric's lap and his arms were around my back. And in that second, I forgot that I looked older, I forgot Eric's vampire politics and his high-handedness and I forgot that even though I was already separated from my husband, I was still married. Hell, I even forgot my daughter upstairs. There was just Eric in my world.

Five or six minutes later, my mind started working again and I welcomed (for the first time ever) my Fae heritage because it was probably the reason why I still looked 29 or 30 years old. Well, maybe 31. But just one second later, I forgot all my thoughts again because Eric was still stroking my back with his hands while he kept kissing my mouth, my jaw line _and_ my neck. And when he licked it, I just couldn't hold back a moan and that made him grab me even stronger. And it was then that I felt his fangs graze my earlobe and I heard him whisper in my ear "I missed you." I grabbed his hair and kissed his lips with all my strength. "I've missed you too." I replied.

There was a rumble in his chest and he deepened the kiss with a little too much strength because his fangs pricked my bottom lip. I was still straddling him and knew immediately that my blood still turned him on. I could definitely feel him even harder bellow me. His hands left my back and fell to my hips while our lips and tongues were in a frenzy. I moaned again and he thrust his hips towards me again, while I bucked my own against him. I was feeling so hot that I thought I might burn of desire. And I really wanted to feel Eric inside me. And the way he was hugging me and how he was moving towards me, I knew that he wanted me too. We had, we really _had_, to move to the next phase.

I pulled back my head so I could tell him how happy I was that he was there with me. But I couldn't. Because that was the moment when I saw his eyes. And they were almost black with lust. "I want you," he said, still whispering. Well, thank God he did, because I sure wanted him too. Very much so. I answered him in the same low tone: "okay". One second later, I was laying across the couch and Eric was above me. He continued kissing my neck and I lost all coherent thoughts. His hands were already beneath my shirt, moving towards my breasts.

"Can I take your sweater off?" He asked, almost breathless. And I laughed. Not really loud, but loud enough.

"You've never asked before," I said a moment later. But he stood there, lying on top of me, looking at my face. This was so unlike Eric. Normally he was so sure of himself. But tonight he looked like amnesiac Eric all over again. He was so hesitant and insecure and I just smiled.

But my smile wasn't what he wanted. So he asked again: "Well… Can I?"

I smiled again and I nodded. "But we have to be quiet. Lizzie's upstairs." He got up a little and took my shirt off, unclasped my bra and immediately started fondling my breasts. His mouth on my skin was amazing and I clawed his coat off his back. I suddenly noted that I really needed to feel his skin. "Take these off, take these off", I whispered in this extremely quiet voice, while I tried to move his coat. But he heard my plea, and he took off his jacket and t-shirt and soon I was feeling his strong arms and defined upper body.

His lips and his hands were everywhere: in my face, my hair, my neck, my breasts. And my breathing was even more off-beat than before. But I just didn't cared. What I did care was feeling Eric. I really needed more and so I lowered my hand and started stroking him through his jeans. He groaned and I felt his fangs search my neckline. "I want you," he said for the second time. I nodded and replied the same as before "okay". Speaking was something beyond my abilities then. I could only manage sounds and small words. Slowly, he got off of the couch and took off his jeans and boxers. His hands grabbed my pants and panties and he slided them both down my legs. "I really want you," Eric repeated for the third time looking into my eyes. And you know what they say, right? Third time is the charm. Because then I realized that "okay" wasn't the answer he was expecting from me. "I want you too. Badly." I managed to say as an answer this time.

Still slowly, he lay on top of me again. He kept kissing me, and touching me and I just tried to grab him with all my strength. But when I felt his finger sliding into me, I lost all strength and could only moan in his mouth. No one had ever made me feel as electric as Eric. Even with his cold hands, his touch burned me.

And he was touching me all over. There wasn't a single part of my body unattended. I was on fire and couldn't wait anymore. I spread my legs and moved down in the couch so his erection nudged at my entrance. He thrusted and buried himself in me. He was just as I remembered.

"Eric!" I almost screamed.

"Schh," he reminded me. But he was still inside me and starting to move and I wasn't conscious enough to keep quiet so I moaned loudly again. "I'll keep you quiet," he said smiling before closing his mouth in mine. His kisses were otherworldly and the feeling of him inside me was incredible.

Moments later, he started pounding me faster and his hands cupped my ass as he thrusted into me. I could tell my orgasm was building already. This was way too quickly when compared to our other times during "no-memory week". But I didn't care. I was on the path towards orgasm and I could only claw my nails in his shoulders. And soon, I was asking him (well, actually, I was begging him) to bite me. Eric stopped kissing my lips and his mouth moved to my neck. And as with his touch, his breath also burned me and I was completely lost in that moment. And when he bit me, I exploded screaming. I hadn't come that hard since… well, probably since the last time I was with Eric.

"Schhh," he said again but I was beyond caring then and could only feel him as he released inside me a couple of thrusts later. And then he kissed me again.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, holding into each other until he spoke again: "We should dress. I don't want you to be cold." He was right, of course, and I _was_ starting to shiver. But Eric telling me to dress? Eric asking me if he could take my shirt off? For a second I thought that this wasn't Eric at all. Rather some doppelganger as in a Twilight Zone episode. But as soon as I was dressed and tried to sit on the couch, he grabbed me and sat me in his lap and held me in place, sniffing me. Yes, this was Eric.

We stayed like that, hugging in silence for 20 or 30 minutes. He then touched my face, made me look at him and broke the silence: "I will not let you be taken away from me again".

He was extremely serious and I wondered why that was. He hugged me again and said that we needed to talk. Uh-oh. Why? Was he having second thoughts about me so soon? Or was this the real subject that brought him here? I still didn't believe in the "I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to visit" excuse.

And so, I got up, I drank water in the kitchen and after I went upstairs to check on Lizzie (she hadn't even moved since she had fell asleep at 8.30, thank God), Eric made me sit on his lap again and he started talking to me. He told me about Niall's sickness and the fact that his enemies wanted to close the portals.

And up until then, I couldn't care less. Since he had insisted to test my daughter when she was born and I hadn't allowed it, Niall and I weren't necessarily in our best terms with each other. But then Eric told me about Niall's daughter, Lincel, and the fact that she might see me as an obstacle to her objective. Would they never leave me alone? I just wanted to live my life with my daughter and… Oh my God! My daughter!

"And Lizzie? Is she safe?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard her name in all his mess. But I worry about you Sookie. I think that you should come back to Shreveport with me. Tonight."

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**So? What did you think about their reunion? And what about the lemons? This was the first time I wrote anything like that… Oh my! :-) Please review and let me know, okay? Anyway, next chapter will be an Eric's POV of all this (since he first visited Sookie). It's time we see what's going on in his head, right? Célia**

"**I Want You" is the tenth song from Bon Jovi's "Keep The Faith" album (1992). **_**"I **__**never wanted the stars / I never shot for the moon / I like them right where they are / All I wanted was you"**_


	21. Come Back

**Here's Eric's POV of all that happened since he first showed up at her door (it starts right after the end of chapter 17). As always, I found it extremely hard to write in a man's (or rather, a 1000-yrs-old Vampire's) perspective. I hope you'll find it Eric-like. And don't forget to drop me a line if you can! Thank you for reading. :-) Cheers from Portugal, Célia**

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**Eric "Come Back"**

As soon as Sookie opened the door, I wanted to push her against the wall and fuck her senseless _right there_.

She looked slightly older than before because she had maybe a couple more age lines around her eyes, but there were no more significant diferences in her. Yes, I'd say that she only looked about two or three years older... I wondered why. But even stranger than that was the fact that she was still perfect to me. _More_ than perfect to me. Actually, her smell was as strong and sweet as before and her face and body called to me as if the last ten years hadn't happened at all.

But just how did she do that? I had drank and fucked two girls half an hour before, but there, at Sookie's door, I felt as hungry and thirsty as never before. Yes, "push her against the wall and fuck her senseless" was a pretty good description of my cravings. But you don't get to live for a thousand years by doing what you want rather than what you should.

"Hello Sookie," I managed to say. I could hear her heart and her breathing and even without a blood-bond, I could tell she was nervous. She invited me inside and asked why I was there. When I answered that I was just visiting, she laughed loud and seemed to calm down. These changes from "nervous" to "calm" or even "horny" or "mad" or to some other feelings were so frequent in her ten years before, that I just smiled inside because she was still the same. Sookie was still Sookie. And I still remembered how she was always saying that she hardly ever lost her temper, but I had always secretly thought that she was as unpredictable, volatile and impulsive as you could get.

And her laugh was still the same too. And in that moment, when she laughed after I told her that I was just there for a regular visit, I time-traveled a decade into my past. But soon I'd come back to the present, when I smelled her living room and could tell no were had been there, at least in the last couple of days. I need to know the reason behind it. And so I asked about her husband. She told me about "some problems" and said he wasn't living there any more. And then the strangest thing happened because I became sad for her. I was sorry that her marriage hadn't worked out and that she had suffered. And her child as well. Her child…

"You have a daughter," I said. She nodded and I could see her love for the child in her face. I asked if I could see her and Sookie let me. The girl was sleeping peacefully with her blond hair all over her pillow. Even with child features, she looked like Sookie and even her smell was Sookie-like. I told her so when we left the bedroom before asking if the child had her gift as well. She said that she didn't while we continued into the hallway. I wondered if she was telling me the truth. After all, Sookie had always tried to hide her own telepathy. It was expected that she would do the same for her daughter. I hoped, for the child's sake, that Sookie was telling the truth. And I also hoped that if the child ever developed that gift in the future, Sookie would trust me enough to tell me that. I had managed to get her free from De Castro so far and I would do the same for her kid.

Soon we were back on her couch and I asked her why she had left. She started talking about children, and peace and normalcy and I didn't know what to answer until she said Compton's name.

"I am not Bill," I answered her. I would never be like William Compton. I would never behave like him nor would I be such a coward that I would lie to Sookie. She replied to me with the cruelest words: "I was afraid that you would break my heart." I wanted to leave her house that moment and never return. I would never have harmed her. On the contrary, I was the one whose dead heart had been broken. And I told her that. She then said she was sorry and I could hear in her voice that she meant it.

And then, in that very second, I really wished I could kiss her. But I didn't. Give me a dozen enemy warriors and I'll fight them all without a second thought. But kissing Sookie Stackhouse? I wasn't brave enough to do it. But she was. She closed the gap between us and our lips touched. And in that moment, it was as if I was still in her grandmother's house without a clue about myself other than the certainty that Sookie was the only one I could trust.

But even though back then when I wasn't myself, I could trust Sookie, I knew now that I couldn't anymore. She had left me. She had hurt me. And she had turned me into something I didn't want to be. I had even felt the need to be close to Ocella for crying out loud. Sookie had broken me when she left. And it had taken me too much damn time to pull myself together again. I wouldn't risk it again.

And so I moved to the other side of her living room. And when I saw her moving towards me, I almost begged her to stay where she was and to shut up. But she didn't and I left her house. I had to leave because I knew that as soon as she'd close that gap between us, I'd lose my mind and fall for her all over again. And so, I did leave – I ran to my car and then I drove to the hotel.

As soon as I got in my room, I showered for more than an hour. I had been at Sookie's and I could still smell her on me. I had to take that scent off me and I only got out of the bath tub when there was only my smell on me. I then sat on my bed and I tried to emerge myself in the movies and shows on TV. I _really_ didn't want to think about Sookie. I knew that I should go back there or at least call her and tell her about the fairies threat but I couldn't make myself do either. And so I watched television until dawn.

I woke up the next evening with the resolution that I'd call Sookie, tell her about everything and offer her the Louisiana Vampire's help. And then I'd leave Tennessee without seeing her again. She could talk about her security with Pam if she wanted our help. Or she might not want it at all. Her choice. Either way, I'd just call her, warn her and then there would be no more contact with Sookie Stackhouse.

But I was still pretty nervous and so I decided I'd go out for a drive to calm down before I'd call Sookie. I purposefully turned east when I left the hotel because I knew that her house was to west. But then, more or less a couple of hours after I left the hotel, I found myself parking at her door and ringing her bell again. I didn't really know why I was here. I just… was. But then again, it didn't matter. I'd speak to her and head off as soon as possible. _Just _speak to her and head off _as soon _as possible.

She asked me inside and then we both sat. I chose the farthest couch from Sookie that there was in the living room. I still feared her. And I didn't trust myself if I was close to her. I was only there to tell her about the Fairies and then leave. Nothing more. I didn't want anything more. But with her so close, my decision to just talk and not grab her and fuck her and rub myself all over her was… hard to keep. And to do as I had determined, I chose the smallest but farthest couch from Sookie. Why? Because her pull was too strong. The gravitational force wasn't anything compared to Sookie. She was the mermaid of the ancient stories, who sang and lulled the sailors to their deaths.

But she definitively wasn't singing. On the contrary, she wasn't even breathing. Instead, she just started mumbling "I'm sorry" after "I'm sorry" and she just coughed and coughed and coughed. What was that? Why was she behaving that way? Was she unwell? Gods! Was Sookie sick?

I moved towards her without even thinking. The fear that she was ill quickly overpowered the fear of having my heart broken again. She had to calm down and I tried to help her. And then Sookie just started saying the words I had been waiting for almost a decade. _"I'm sorry for leaving Louisiana. And you."_

And just like that, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Actually, I was feeling better than I had since that last time in my office in Fangtasia when she said she was leaving. But suddenly, Sookie was crying again and I just grabbed and hugged her. It was… instinctual or something. I didn't think. I didn't worry about her or me. I just grabbed her and I hugged her. And then she kissed me. For a second or two, I still hesitated, but soon her tongue decided for me and I grabbed her face, she hugged my neck and that was it.

I knew that I shouldn't be that easy. I knew that Sookie was like a poison to me. She did me wrong, she was bad for me. And I knew that I had gone to Tennessee just to talk and warn her. Nothing more. I didn't want to be hurt again. And I was really scared that it would happen again. I would be wounded by a human. And I was fucking terrified of it. And I am Eric Northman. Nothing scares me. But putting myself in Sookie's hands again was frightening as hell. However, like I said before, her pull was too strong. And I just couldn't make myself leave her. My mind was screaming for me to run off and protect myself from being dumped again... and by a woman. But my body didn't agree and it was just reacting to her. And to touch and to hold her was suddenly what was keeping me alive. I just… I just _had _to hold her. It was as if I was a human in the middle of the freaking Atlantic and she was a floater ... I just _really had_ to hold on or else I would drown. And that was what I did.

We kept kissing and touching for a while. But soon, I realized that it wasn't enough anymore. I was a junky and Sookie was my drug. And I just wanted more and more.

But how? Why? Truth be told, I did not understand that need. I just knew that Sookie belonged with me. And I craved more. I really had to feel all the skin on her body and so I asked her permission. I was still pretty nervous and unsure. Me. Eric Northman. Scared of a young little girl. Well, a woman now. But still…

I decided that the best was to follow my instincts and I just kissed and touched her wherever and however I felt like it. And when after ten or fifteen minutes, I entered her, I felt that all was well in the world. The air smelled better, the colors were brighter and I just wanted the whole world to be happy and in peace. I wondered for a moment who I was and where my true self had gone, but then I sensed her hold on my back getting stronger and I decided I'd just feel her and not really think about what was happening.

Seconds later, when I started moving, she almost screamed my name. I still remembered her previous words, and so I began kissing her to keep the sounds low. But every time I shifted in and out of her, she moaned and I was having difficulty keeping quiet myself. And then she asked me to bite her and I felt like the luckiest SOB in the world. My fangs penetrated her skin and we came almost together as if we had been doing that every night for the last ten years.

I waited for her to calm down because her breathing was still irregular and we got dressed. I knew we had a lot to talk about (Niall and Lincel for one ), but I figured I deserved a few more moments and so I placed her in my lap and we stayed there, in silence, just hugging for half an hour or so.

But reality came back when I realized I couldn't lose her again and I started telling her everything about Gilbert's call.

"And Lizzie? Is she safe?" She asked without delay. Obviously, as the good mother Sookie was, her thoughts went immediately to her daughter. I, on the other hand, hadn't thought about the kid. Well, it all depended if she had the so-talked-about essential spark or not.

"I don't know," I answered, "I haven't heard her name in all this mess. But I worry about you Sookie. I think you should come back to Shreveport with me. Tonight."

She moved out of my lap and sat in front of me on a coffee table. She grabbed my hands and said: "I can't Eric. I wouldn't leave without my daughter. And besides, there's Lizzie's school, her friends. And there's also the restaurant, my job. And David. He is her father and I can't decide something like that without talking to him. I can't just _leave_ to Louisiana."

There's David? But… "You said that he moved six months ago..." I didn't understand. She _had_ said that they weren't together anymore. She had said that.

"He moved from this house. The two of us are not a couple anymore. But he's Lizzie's dad and he'll always be. And David is a good father."

"What happened between you two?" It was the second time I was asking. And this time she answered.

"David's a born were-bear but during most of his life he never wanted to be a part of the supernatural world. His friends weren't weres and every full moon he would run all by himself. And that's what first attracted me to him. The fact that he just didn't care about the supernatural world." She paused for a moment and then continued. "But when I was kidnapped he felt that if he was more into this crazy world of yours, he might have prevented it."

The way she accentuated the "yours" almost made me shiver. She hated the supernatural world. She really did. And I couldn't blame her. First, there was Bill's assignment and all the dangerous situations she had found herself in, then she had felt the need to leave Louisiana (I still didn't understand that) and now, apparently, her so-called husband's double-nature had been the means to the end of her marriage. I had to know more about it and so I said: "And?"

"And so he decided he wanted to meet other supes and began spending more and more time with a few packs nearby. Eventually, he started meeting other bears, _female_ bears and started talking about his _'duty'_" – she was doing the upper commas sign with her hands – "yeah, that was actually the word he used: his _'duty'_ to have full were-bear children with them. I said that I'd leave him if he did it and he dropped the subject."

If he had really dropped the subject, we wouldn't be having this conversation, _that_ was for sure. Why the hell would a fucking bear want a full bear child, when he had Sookie and her kid at home? I had always thought that weres were stupid and here I had the confirmation. Fucking two-natures. "Then what?" I asked again.

"Then the subject came back again." I knew it. She paused for a few seconds and then she carried on. "This time with artificial insemination in the middle. He wanted to go to a clinic and donate his sperm and then this 21 year-old were-bear girl would have his child. But it was almost the same. Yes, he wouldn't be having sex with her, but it was still something that I couldn't accept. The fact that he wanted to have full were-bear children just meant that Lizzie wasn't enough for him and we grew apart, but stayed together."

"I see."

"Six months ago he told me his first were-bear son had been born and I asked him to leave this house."

"I see." I repeated.

"And before he found his new apartment, he stayed at the girl's house for two or three weeks, with her, her parents and the child. The baby boy was already four months old then. And… she was David's girlfriend. She still is, I guess. It had taken them almost a year until she had gotten pregnant. Trough a… _conventional_ way."

Yeah. Stupid, stupid weres. He had chosen someone else over Sookie. How could he? Suddenly, I could almost smell the salt in Sookie's still nonexistent tears. She was about to cry again. I had to change the subject to something that brought happiness to her.

"And your daughter?"

"She misses him. We told her the same things every couple say when they separate. You know: mommy and daddy still love you very much but we won't live together anymore, you're still the most important thing for us and everything will be all right, and so on... I swear, I never thought I'd be saying those words, but I actually did." Her voice was full of defeat. She had taken it as a personal failure that her marriage was over.

But for me, it was a miracle in disguise. Maybe I would convince her that she should go back to Louisiana. _"There's Lizzie's school, her friends. And there's also the restaurant, my job. And David."_ But the kid was five; she would make new friends easily. And the job wasn't important either. I'd give her money, or I'd get her a job in one of my bars if she wanted. _"And David."_ Apparently, he had a new family. Maybe he didn't care about where Sookie would live. Maybe…

"Does he spend time with her?"

"Yes. I told you: he's a good father. Liz spends two weekends a month with him and he comes here to dinner every week. He's coming tomorrow."

"Oohh" I said. Yep. Really fluent and eloquent Eric. Congrats!

But my whole "maybe he didn't care about Sookie" theory had just gone down the drain. He did care. The kid stayed with him quite often. And he still had dinner every week at his house … well, at Sookie's now. Shit! And I'd bet they still saw each other every day at the restaurant. Double shit! What the hell kind of a separation was that?

"Look Eric…" Sookie said and then paused. She scratched her neck right where I had bit her but then her hand went back to touching mine and she continued: "I'll tell David everything tomorrow. He'll talk to his friends and they'll protect us. David is… well, he is pretty well considered now in the were community. They will help us." She paused again and both her hands left mine. "Thank you for coming all the way here to warn me about all this. We'll take care, you don't have to worry."

What? Was she kidding me? I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "That's it Sookie? 'Thank you for dropping by'?" I deserved more than just a fucking "thank you for warning me". _She _deserved more than just a fucking danger notification. I couldn't let things stay that way. I had let her have her own way ten years before, but I wouldn't no more. This time, I would _not_ accept her words and just shut up. I spoke my mind: "I know I said that I was just visiting but I am not. I want to keep you safe. I want you to come home with me."

"This is home." She answered.

She was so annoying. And so stubborn. And so… Sookie. But I was stubborn too. "No. I won't allow you. You will not stay here all by yourself."

"I told you. David and his friends will protect us. I am sure of it. We'll take care. You don't have to worry. He's my hus… David is Lizzie's dad and he'll protect us." She trusted her safety to a fucking bear? And she was telling me that I should be okay with that? Hilarious.

"I do worry."

"You don't have to. I don't want you to. David will take care of us. We're his family. It is his job to protect me and Liz. I've promised him in the past and he'll want to do it, and I do to. And just… please don't go all high-handed like you were before Eric…"

Aarrgght! I fought my instinct to grab her over my shoulder and fly the hell away from there. What was it with Sookie Stackhouse that always brought out the Viking in me? I decided that I should act the opposite of what I would have done ten years before, and so I tried to compromise.

Even without needing, I deeply breathed and then I said: "I'll stay here until dawn. As soon as it's day, you'll call your… you'll call David so he can stay with you during the day. I'll call you as soon as it's dark. And I'll come back if David or his people are not here with you."

The littlest smile appeared in her face and her hands touched mine again. I repeated my previous sentence: "I will not let you be taken away from me again."

"You're extremely important to me. But you're second to my daughter. I won't let the fairies change Lizzie's everyday life. And so, I won't go back to Louisiana." Her voice was strong and full of certainty.

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**Will he be able to change her mind? Or will he go back to Louisiana and let her stay in Tennessee? Or maybe he'll he stay in Tennessee as well? Will Sookie move to Shreveport because of this threat? And will she take Lizzie with her? How will David react to Eric's visit? What do **_**you**_** think? What would **_**you **_**prefer? **

"**Come Back" was the very first song written for the album "Bon Jovi" (the debut album from American rock band Bon Jovi) released January 21, 1984. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.**


	22. Real Life

**Hi! First of all, I want to remeber you that ****Eric wanted Sookie to leave **_**that same night**_** to Louisiana. But she obviously couldn't – and no matter how rotten a husband David is, he's a good father to their daughter (he calls every night and tries to be with her frequently). That said, this is a Sookie and Eric story and they truly, deeply and unconditionally LOVE each other. And they ****will**** have their HEA.**

**Secondly, I want to thank Charhamblin for her wonderful help beta-ing this story. The mistakes, though, are all mine. The characters, unfortunately, are not! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please feel free to drop me a line. Thank you! Célia**

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**Sookie "Real Life"**

It had been two weeks since I met Eric again and everything had been pretty calm. Like Eric had told me to do, I called David first thing the next morning and told him I needed to speak to him. I knew he had been working late on the previous night, but Lizzie's safety was more important than David's rest. And I had promised him over and over again, that I'd trust him with our safety. And that was what I was going to do. Because I did trust him. He'd do the best thing for us. After all, David _was_ and would _always be_ Lizzie's dad. And like I had told Eric, he was a good father (even though he was a lousy husband).

When David arrived we both took Lizzie to pre-school (she was absolutely gleeful that mommy and daddy were both with her) and then we went back home to talk. I told him about the visit of a "acquaintance from Louisiana that I used to work with" (but not who it had been, obviously) and all that awful Fairy business.

Back when I was pregnant, I had told David everything about Niall and my Fae heritage. And he had even met Niall at Lizzie's baptism. But that was the evening when Niall and I argued over Liz's essential spark. Niall kept saying how bright it was (even though he was sure it wasn't as pure as ours) and that he wanted to test it to make it official. After my previous contact with fairies, I thought it was rather evident that I wouldn't want to have anything to do with Fairy. Niall insisted, of course. But I resisted all his arguments and he got really angry with me. We had only spoken twice ever since (both times, Niall called just to "check" how we were).

David had also met Claude and Claudine on our wedding day. But soon after Liz's baptism, Claude also disappeared from our lives because in the meantime he had moved to Holland, to a town near Amsterdam, with a guy from Belgium. Not that he was a frequent visit before, but since then, Claude was just a "couple of phone-calls a year" kind of relative. Well, even less than that because he had changed his cell-phone number and hadn't bothered to tell us his new contact. From Claude, I now only had an e-mail address, but I wasn't even sure if he still checked his messages or not. But Claudine, on the other hand, had kept visiting us, a couple of times a year. And we always met her when we were in Louisiana. Until the previous summer, that is. Because that was when she moved permanently to Faery, with her recent husband Coleman. She told me that she wanted to be a mother, and our dimension's excessive iron-composed equipments would prevent her from getting pregnant. But I knew that other than that, the true reason was the fact that Coleman wouldn't ever live here.

And so, the only Fairy that David had actually met a few times was Claudine. Hardly a danger… At least, to us. But he still remembered how injured we both had been almost six years before and he believed me right away when I told him that dangerous Fae were after me and Liz again. When he asked how I had known that, and who was the "acquaintance", I told him that the "Louisiana Vampires" had heard about it and told me. He probably thought that it had been Pam who had warned me and dropped the subject.

And as expected, David started making phone calls and it was decided that there would always be two weres with us, all the time: one with me and one with Elizabeth. Besides, David moved in again to the sofa-bed in the office room. He didn't try anything with me and I was grateful for that. But then again, we hadn't been living as a proper husband and wife for a while, even before he had moved out. And he still had his "girlfriend", I guess. Lizzie, however, didn't understand why her father was sleeping in the couch, but was happy to have more "daddy time".

And so, for two weeks, it was like we were living in a state of "calm before the storm"; we were all waiting for something to happen. Even Eric, who was back in Louisiana.

The first night after he left, I called him right after sun set to thank him again for warning me. And I also said that I was missing him already and... Well, I also told him that I loved him. Yes, it's true. I actually pronounced the L-word. And why did I say it? I don't know. It just felt natural to do it. He didn't answer my "I love you" but he sounded happy that I had called him. After the way I had left ten years before, I couldn't condemn him for taking everything slow. But that pregnant silence after my sentence was really painful for me, so I quickly changed the subject and ten or fifteen minutes later, we ended the phone call.

I still remember that back then, when we ended the phone call, I thought that it would probably be a while until we talked again because of my "love-admittance" over the phone. But on the following night, _he _called me. And ever since that evening, and during those two weeks, he had called me every night as soon as he woke up. We would talk about my day, my daughter, Pam or his bars but nothing more. No "fairy talk". No "sex talk". No "future talk". No "feelings talk". No "David talk". And especially no "I love you" talk. From _either_ of us.

When I thought about it, it sounded really odd, to talk to Eric so often again, and without a special reason for each phone call. But whenever he would call (first thing every night), we would talk as if we'd been friends since childhood and grown up together. Do you know that kind of friendship? The one when you never are without a subject to talk about? Well, we were just like that. And the best part was that because David was usually at the restaurant at night (whereas I was during the day) and Eric usually called in the middle of "Toys' City" (Lizzie's favorite TV show), we were able to talk freely without major interruptions.

Two weeks later though, David was starting to wonder if this threat was really true or if nothing would ever happen. I was absolutely sure that the danger was there, but without a sign, David was being pressured by the pack-leaders that had been helping to keep us safe. And so, he pressured me.

"Sook, it's not that I don't worry about you or Liz," David was saying, "and I believe your friend heard something", the way he said friend, meaning Eric, was spiteful (I had finally specified to him what Louisiana vampire had told me about the fairies' danger the week before), "but you've got to understand that the guys are getting restless. Three 8-hours shifts a day and two weres per shift is too much. There are other problems the packs must attend."

"Okay. So drop _my_ bodyguard, I don't care," and I didn't, "but please keep someone with Lizzie. She's your daughter too David."

"Oh, don't you even go there Sook. I know Liz is my daughter and I love her. And you know I do. But that's not the issue here. I think that maybe your vamp's intel was wrong, that nothing's going to happen. We've been trying to get more information about the fairies but there's nothing. I don't think you are in any danger. I really don't."

Hah! "Get more information about the fairies"! They wouldn't even know where to begin said search for information. You couldn't find a more secluded and private race than the Fairies. Of course the pack wouldn't get any information about them. Let alone know if they were planning an attack or not. And besides, I trusted Eric's words. If he said that there was danger, then there _was_ danger.

"But I do. And I won't risk Elizabeth. Never. I will ask for Eric's help. He'll send someone to be with us." I answered him. I wouldn't jeopardize anything this time. Not with Liz on the line. I'd do whatever I had to protect my child.

But apparently, David didn't agree with me. "I don't like you asking favors from vamps Sook. Especially that guy."

Okay. That was expected. But I didn't care. All I worried about was Liz's safety. "You don't have to like or dislike it David. I thank you for your help for the last weeks but if you can't help me anymore you _have got_ to let me get help somewhere else. And Eric is… he is my friend." David looked at me as if he thought I was telling a joke by saying that I had a vampire friend. But that was _so_ not the point. Lizzie's protection was. And I wouldn't gamble with it. And so, I was really starting to lose my patience with my husband. Didn't David understand how important it was to keep Liz safe? Had he forgotten what had happened when I was pregnant?

"Vampires don't have friends Sookie. They just want to have sex and drink regular people. Fucking bloodsuckers." He said with a spiteful tone. And he was talking as if _he_ was one of these "regular people".

"Okay. Thank you for sharing _that_." I said with sarcasm. David didn't know a thing about vampires. He didn't know a thing about Pam, Eric or Bill. And hell… even Dahlia and Clancy had helped in my rescue almost six years before. So they couldn't be just vampires. There was something human still inside them. And my past with all of them had to mean something too… How we'd all had survived a bomb explosion and a Fellowship's attack, and so much more... Pam, Eric and Bill were my friends. They were. And David… well, he just didn't understand it.

"You know I'm right Sook. They _are_ all fucking bloodsuckers."

I wanted to end this conversation. I'd never convince David that vampires were like everyone else: some of them were good, while others were bad. Just like humans. And fairies. And weres for that matter. And David would also never talk me into believing that I didn't mean anything to them. Yes, I really wanted to end this conversation. But there was something else bothering me. And I talked about it. In for a penny, in for a pound. Right?

"I also think you should stay at your place from now on." I said.

"Why?" He immediately asked. His spiteful tone from before was even more spiteful now. "Do you want him here? Do you want a fucking dead guy in my place Sookie? In my fucking bed?"

Hah? This was definitively not David-like. I breathed in and then I breathed out and I bit my tongue so I wouldn't answer him that it wasn't his bed anymore. Instead, I just tried to calm down, so I could calm David too. And then I said: "That's not the issue at hand here. At all. It's Lizzie. She's getting confused as to why you are here and it would be better if you left. She doesn't understand that you're here just for a while. And she wonders why you are sleeping in the office room. She's asked me about it already. It's confusing for a 5-year old and I don't want to mess with her head."

"Okay. I'll leave. I'll leave right now. But don't you dare Sook," he said pointing his finger at me. There was this menacing tone in his words now. And for a second, I almost felt scared of my husband. But then I came back to my senses, and I knew that there was no need. David was just stressed out.

"What? Don't I dare what?" I asked.

"Don't you dare having a fucking dead guy in _my_ place with _my_ daughter and _my_ wife."

The way he said the "my's" in the sentence bothered me to my core. I had always been bothered by all the "mine" situations. First there had been Bill, then Eric to an extent. And now there was David. What the hell? Why did men always behave this way? It was as if Liz and I were David's property just like his snooker table, his motorcycle or his griller. Damn all men and their possessiveness. Besides, I knew that I could truthfully answer him that I was _Eric's _wife before I was _his_ wife. But again, I just shut up. As I had been doing during the whole time of our marriage.

And let me tell you: shutting up to avoid an argument was _so_ not me. But I actually had been doing it more times than I wanted for Lizzie's sake. Seeing your parents argue has to be traumatic to a child and I had always tried to prevent it. Besides, I knew that this was a delicate subject to David and so I decided that the better thing to do was to calm him down. Besides, he was too nervous and edgy. The way he was talking to me… He had never been that way before. Never. Yeah, I had to calm him down.

"David, our divorce isn't official yet. You know we're still in the statutory minimum waiting period. And I'm definitively not looking for anyone else. I'm not. I don't want anyone else. Especially a vampire. Eric is my friend. That's just it."

"Friend," he mumbled.

"Yes, my friend. I saved his life once in Rhodes and he wants to reciprocate the favor, that's all". Okay, not completely true, but not a lie either. I had become pretty good at contouring the inconvenient truths in the last few years.

"You said the guy was married to you Sookie. He'll probably want to do … things to you… Drink and stuff." I could tell his problem wasn't the "drink" part. It was the "stuff" part. And I knew that by "stuff", he meant sex. What was it with men and sex? Was it the only thing they could think of?

"David, that marriage is ancient history and it was just a political move. There was no honeymoon or wedding night or anything like that. I left to Tennessee just a couple of weeks after that. I just handed him a knife for Christ's sake. And that was it. That same night, I left _alone_ to my house. I slept _alone_ in my house. _Alone_, David. I just saw Eric once after that and just for ten minutes to tell him I was leaving Louisiana. Trust me: the marriage was just a political move."

Still: no lie there. We hadn't had any honeymoon. We hadn't had any wedding night. We really hadn't consummated our so-called marriage. Well, not until two weeks ago. But you can hardly call a wedding night to a couple having sex, almost a decade _after_ their supposed marriage. Besides, just the whole "marriage" concept… I had handed him a knife, for crying out loud. It was just ornamented (and somewhat symbolic) silverware. Nothing more. Jesus! Damn the whole knife itself.

"I trust you. It's him I don't trust." Thankfully, David seemed to be calming down again.

"David, listen to me. I'll just ask for his help. I want to keep our daughter safe and he can help me with that. And I don't even know if he's the one who is coming here. He might send some weres. Or he'll probably send some other vamp. Maybe a woman. Hey, maybe Pam."

"You sure?"

"No. It's like I said: I don't know. I'm asking the guy's help. I won't be picky. But even if he's the one to come to Tennessee, he won't sleep here. Our house isn't light proof."

Yes, David definitively seemed to calm down. Especially after this new piece of information. The "he won't sleep here" part of the sentence.

"And can you trust him? Won't he bite Elizabeth?"

"Oh, for crying out loud David. Do you think I would let him? And I do trust him. Let's…" I sighed, "Let's just ask his help for a few more weeks. In a month or so, if nothing happens, then he or his people can leave. You know I've been trying to contact Claudine and Claude. As soon as either of them calls back, they'll be able to help us figure this all out. Meanwhile, Eric or his people will keep us safe."

He nodded, grabbed some clothes and other items that he had brought back and left. I saw him talking to one guy from the window and they both left. My bodyguard was being dismissed. I changed and went to the restaurant.

Since our separation, David and I had almost completely opposite working schedules. We hardly ever saw each other at Brown's. It was hard to work that way, but it was better for us. Besides, we trusted our staff.

Later that day, I went to pick Lizzie after her swimming lesson. When we got home, I sat with her and started to explain her that her daddy wasn't staying with us anymore, but that we would meet someone new to keep us company.

"Will daddy stay away forever?"

"No sweetie. That's not it. Daddy will come have dinner with us every Wednesday and you will be staying at daddy's two weekends a month like before. He just won't be sleeping here, that's all."

"Why?"

"You know why Liz. We've talked about it. Daddy has his own house now. You remember the apartment, right? The one with the all-pink bedroom for you."

"Yes," her voice was sad. It broke my heart.

"You okay baby?" I hated to see my daughter suffer.

But she didn't answer me. Instead, she just asked: "Can we have pizza tonight?" So yes, she was okay. Better than okay actually. She was already using my worries against me.

"You know you can only eat pizza on your daddy's weekends Elizabeth. Didn't you have pizza last saturday with your father?"

"But please mom, please." I couldn't resist her. She owed me.

"Alright. But that's an exception."

"Thank you mom, thank you mom, thank you mom." She said starting jumping up and down on the couch.

"Lizzie: how many times do I have to tell you? No jumping on beds or couches."

"Sorry mom," she answered me and left running up the stairs.

I called the pizza place and then started ironing. I was half way through some sheets when my phone rang. Eric. He always called at the same time. Right after sun set.

"Hi."

"Hello Sookie. How was your day?" Every time he called me Sookie and not "lover" or "dear one" I felt sad. But I knew it was better this way. _Way_ better this way. I couldn't imagine David hearing Eric calling me lover. Not anymore. Especially not after our last conversation. We sure were far away from the "I trust you" in our beginning, when I had said Eric's name in my sleep and David just didn't care because he trusted and loved me. Yes, it was _way_ better that Eric just called me Sookie. But, even thought I knew that, I couldn't help feeling sad.

"Just like every other. And yours?"

"I spent my _day_ sleeping. And my _night_ yesterday was uneventful too." Oh, right. Dah!

"Yeah. Sorry. I always forget." Somehow I always thought of Eric as a person rather than a vampire, because for me he was 'Eric, the vampire' and not 'the vampire Eric'. You can see the difference, right?

"You always do," he answered.

"Listen Eric, I'm very glad you called..."

"I'm glad too," he said cutting short my sentence, "but I always call." That was Eric alright. He had always taken things literally. Too literally.

"Yes, I know, I meant: I have something to tell you. Well, to ask you. Actually, it's a favor."

"Yes?"

"Well, David's friends are starting to feel that maybe this threat isn't as dangerous as we are thinking and…"

"But it is," he interrupted me.

"I know. And this time I don't want to risk anything. So I was wondering if you could send someone to spend the night with us. I think that Lizzie's all right at school and so am I at the restaurant but at night I feel that…"

"No. That's not happening."

"Oh." Okay. Huge mistake here. When I had told David that he should stay at his home it had never crossed my mind that Eric wouldn't send someone. He was always offering his help on the phone whenever he called me. And that was _every night_. I had thought he was worried about me. Oh my…

I was already imagining in my mind how I'd ever ask David to come to the office room's sofa bed again when Eric continued talking: "Both you and your daughter will have someone with you during the day too, starting tomorrow. I'll see to it." I immediately felt better and safer. Eric was seeing to it. All would be alright. "And I will stay with you at night."

He would? I thought about the last time he had been at my house and how we had ended making love in my living room. And now… he was coming back? I both loved and dreaded the idea. I loved it because Eric would come back and I loved him. And I dreaded the idea for exactly the same reason.

Besides, I didn't know if I deserved this kind of help from him. Well, actually, I _knew_ that I didn't deserve all this. And so, without even knowing what I was saying, I mumbled: "Eric, thank you, but you don't have to come here yourself if you are needed in Louisiana or if you don't want to. I'll understa…"

"Sookie, enough," he interrupted me, "there is no more talk about it. And you do not get to say anything else on this matter. I have decided already. I am leaving to Tennessee tonight."

* * *

**So? What do you think about all this? Sookie saying that she loves him and him shutting up was pretty hard, right? And what about David? Anyway, Eric's going to Tennessee again! How will Sookie and Eric behave when they see each other again? And how will David react to Eric (and vice-versa)? :-) Oh, and what about Lizzie? I don't have kids but I tried to have her behaving/speaking like a 5-yrs old would... ****I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Célia**

**"Real Life" is a single by American Rock band Bon Jovi, released in 1999. It is taken from the soundtrack of the film EDtv with Matthew McConaughey. **


	23. Stranger In This Town

**Here's chapter 23! :-) The characters, obviously, belong to Ms Harris. And the beta-support was given by Charhamblin. I hope you'll like this chapter and think that this is Eric-like enough. And please drop me a line if you can. Thank you! Take care! Célia**

* * *

**Eric "Stranger In This Town"**

I wanted to stay with Sookie so much that night when we had sex for the first time in a decade that I barely got to the hotel in time. The minute I laid down on my bed, I was dead.

On the next night, as soon as I woke up, I immediately smelled Sookie on me. So I grabbed my cell phone and I called her. She told me her supposed husband was there with her and that he had made arrangements so both Sookie and their daughter would have a bodyguard at all times. I was happy that the bear wasn't completely useless and a total moron, but I felt sad that she didn't need me.

"Go back to Louisiana Eric. I'll call if anything happens."

And so I left back to Shreveport. I didn't want to because I wanted to keep her safe, but at the same time I knew that it would be better for _me_ to be away from Sookie so I could properly think about my… well… uumm… feelings. Yes, I'd stay away and she would call if anything happened, as she had said.

But on the next night though, she didn't wait for anything to happen and she called me. And for me, it meant a lot. And even better than her call was the fact that she said she loved me. I wanted so much to tell her that I loved her back… but I didn't. I wouldn't give her the tools to break me again. This time _she_ would have to prove that she really wanted me before I'd tell her that I loved her too. Even though I did love her already. Or rather: _still_. I did love her _still_.

But her phone call and her words made me change my mind again. And my "stay away and have no contact with Sookie" plan of action morphed into the simpler "call her". And so, on the following evening, I didn't wait for her to call me again. Instead, as soon as I woke, I called her and we talked for fifteen minutes about Elizabeth. The kid had been picked to represent her swimming school on the county's championship that day and Sookie was extremely proud of her because "the other children in her division are all 6 or 7 and there's even a couple of 8-years-old".

Okay, it's true, I admit: that didn't mean a thing to me. At all. Okay, so the kid could swim. So what? But it meant a lot to Sookie. And she was happy about it. And I liked talking on the phone with happy-Sookie. And so I created a pattern: each night, even before leaving my room, I would call Sookie and she would tell me about her job, her daughter, her activities during the day and I would tell her about Pam or my bars. She wanted to visit Bloodbath and Deadliest because she hadn't been there yet. And Fangtasia too because it had been too long since she had seen me "looking _Viking-ish_ and _badass-ish in the big, golden throne_". Her words, not mine.

And so we talked every night for two weeks.

Pam, obviously, teased me.

About a week or so after I had come back from Sookie's, I had just arrived at my office, at Bloodbath, when I saw Pam's car already parked there. The bar's doors were still closed because it was still early, but there were already a few patrons' cars as well on the parking lot. It was going to be a good night. Well, it usually was. Bloodbath was now as famous as Fangtasia. Deadliest though, not so much – but we'd get there.

Pam entered my office not two minutes after my arrival. She was already dressed in her black leather outfit for the night. "So… what did you say before? How was it Eric? Your word? 'Beyond', was it? It was 'beyond' right?" And then she proceeded to mimic my voice (badly, I might add): "It's been almost ten years Pamela. I'm beyond all that now."

"Pam, just… Shut up."

"Well Eric, you were absolutely right. You are obviously _beyond_ all that now. And I just want to tell you that I've called the person you are so _beyond_ now and I think that she sounded as _beyond_ as you." She kept saying "beyond" with a mocking tone, and so I didn't comment on it. But my lack of response wouldn't shut up Pam, obviously. "She said she loves, and I repeat _loooves_, your calls. Your every night calls."

Now it had been the prolonged "o" in "loves" that had bothered me. But again, I didn't answer. And she continued: "Every night Eric?"

"Pam, I just worry about her safety. That's all."

"Yeah, that's all", she repeated me sarcastically and left the room.

And even though I didn't want to recognize it, Pam was kind of right. That is, I wasn't as mad and angry or kind of depressed as before, but I was still sort of Sookie-obsessed. I thought about her quite often. And… well, I was a bit ashamed to confess, but the truth was that I hadn't had sex with anyone else yet. I had drunk from nice girls every night but I hadn't fucked any of them since I had been back from Tennessee. I just… didn't _want_ to have sex with any one of them. They just… didn't _appeal_ to me.

Not even Natércia. I had had a trip to Vancouver scheduled for the following month, so we could be together again for a couple of weeks, but I had called her to cancel it.

"Oh, hell, not you too!" Nat replied to me when I phoned her to say that I wouldn't be visiting.

"Why? Who else isn't coming? Is there something special going on there?"

"Yeah. Adelaide's here in Canada now. She moved to Ottawa a couple of months ago. And Ocella was going to visit us too at the same time, but apparently his child screwed up or something and so he can't stopover. And now you aren't coming here either. Hell. Fuck this," Natércia said.

Adelaide was Ocella's "younger sister". She was more or less 1200 years old and she had been living in Macau and Taiwan for the past 150 years. It was great that she was in Canada, and I would definitively love to see her again – last time I had been personally with Lai had been in Saint Petersburg right after the Second World War. We had both been there to visit Nat as well (Nat and Lai were very good friends since I had introduced Nat to both Ocella and Adelaide in the 14th century in Louis I of Hungary's court, right before we all moved from Lithuania to Southern Italy). Yeah, I'd definitively like to see her again. Adelaide had lived somewhat close to me and Ocella for almost 70 years when I was turned. And she had helped me _a lot_ when Ocella was just an angry maker and way before he became my friend. But no matter how much I wanted to see Lai again, I couldn't go to Canada. Now was definitely not the time to be with Nat. Not until this… _relationship _(or whatever this was with Sookie) would stop being an amorphous mess.

"I'm sorry Nat. I can't go to Vancouver now. You know how it is with the new bars and all the extra work..."

"Doesn't your worthless child help you?" Nat and Pam would never get along. Pam hated Nat ever since the first time they met in England two or three decades after I had became a maker. I had never understood why, but the truth is that she had despised Nat since then. Pam couldn't even stand Nat's name in a conversation. And Natércia had always thought that I was too permissive and too tolerant with my child. Nat had a "respect through fear" kind of relationship with her two children (they were taught to believe that Nat was deserved tribute for having given them the gift of vampirism), whereas I always saw Pam as a younger, feminine version of me that would grow to be just like myself.

"Natércia, don't be like that. You know how great Pam has been since I asked her to come back to the US. It's just that I'm in the verge of earning lots of money with the franchising but I still have to be on top of things."

"Alright. Alright. Come whenever you can. I miss you."

I said that I would be there as soon as possible and before long I ended the call. But I didn't say that I missed her too because I actually… didn't. And it felt awful that I didn't. Nat had been my best friend for 800 years. And she still was. But she was just too complicated at the moment. I didn't need to be with her now that I had been with Sookie again. I knew I was being a selfish bastard, using Nat to help me overcome Sookie but then forgetting her as soon as Sookie had said yes to me. But what could I do?

Well, I could stop being a selfish bastard and just cut Sookie out of my system. But I had tried that for a decade and I hadn't managed it. Even without the blood bond, I hadn't ever forgotten her. And I knew that I wouldn't. It was as if Sookie was a limb. Yeah, that was a nice analogy because a human still lived without an arm or a leg, or if they were blind or deaf. But they didn't function as good as they would without that deficiency. And I really needed Sookie to function properly. To hell if I knew why. After all, she was just one in a sea of thousands of humans I had been with. But even if I didn't know the reason why, I was sure that I needed Sookie in my life.

And with my nightly phone calls (without any sensitive or touchy subjects talked about, except for that first and single "I love you"), I just tried to give her space and let her decide; but, at the same time, I was saying: I'm here for you.

And then, a couple of weeks after my visit, Sookie finally asked my help.

I immediately dressed in my 'charming prince on a white horse' trousers, and I got her daytime protection. I also decided that I'd be the one who'd keep her safe at night.

-x-

"So… why is it that you are going back there again Eric?" It was my child's voice. As soon as I had decided that I'd go back to Tennessee, I had called Pam to tell her to keep an eye on everything for me. Now, half an hour later, she was entering my house. I was packing some clothes, when I heard her voice and I looked up. Pam was staring at me from the door in my bedroom. Her arms were crossed at her chest and she looked pissed.

I tried changing the subject and talking about how the lack of the Arkansas' construction permits was delaying the opening of our first Fangtasia in that state, and how she should stay on top of that during my absence, but Pam didn't let me. She just kept talking how Sookie had me wrapped in her "warm, little human finger" and how I was "behaving like a teenager with a boner".

Yes, Pam, as usual, had lots of uninteresting remarks about my decision. But I couldn't care less. I left that same night for Tennessee.

My new encounter with Sookie was… Well, awkward. I really wanted to have sex with her again but I didn't know if she did. And so we spent a couple of hours just talking and feeling tongue-tied and self-conscious. But later that night when I was leaving, Sookie walked with me to the door and kissed me hard. Just like that. I hadn't felt that she was going to do that. At all. But I didn't think about it either. I just reacted to it. I immediately grabbed her legs around my waist and held her against the still closed door, deepening the kiss. Her back was on the door, her arms were hugging my neck and her tongue was deep inside my mouth two seconds later.

Okay. Now is the time to confirm a few facts: yes, I am a vampire; yes, we do have heightened senses, namely hearing; yes, I should have listened; no, I do not know why I didn't. Well, I guess I was so into Sookie that I wasn't paying attention. And who didn't I listen to? Sookie's kid.

"Mom? What are you doing?" A child's voice asked from the middle of the stairs.

"Put me down, put me down." Sookie commanded. I did so and turned towards the voice while Sookie ran to her daughter. "What are you doing up Liz? It's still night baby."

"I'm thirsty." She answered her mother but looking at me. "Hi" she then told me, smiling in my direction. I ran to them in vampire speed and then slowly grabbed her hand and shook it. Then I said: "How do you do?"

She let go an excited happy little scream and started laughing and shaking my hand as well while trying to say, between giggles, "How do you do?" A minute later, Sookie interrupted us.

"That's enough Lizzie. And you have water in your room, you know that. Come. Mom will tuck you in. And you can meet him properly tomorrow," Sookie then turned to me, "It's late already, you should go. I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked me, smiling at me and then biting her lower lip in this sensual but still innocent kind of way... She was so damn unconsciously sexy that I almost felt my heart beating again.

"First dark," I answered and then left. I talked to the two weres that I had hired that were already there and left to the hotel.

The next night I got up, dressed while drinking an awful bottle of True Blood and drove to Sookie's. I spent a couple of minutes speaking to the new bodyguards that had relieved yesterday's guards at noon. And then they went back to their car while I rang the doorbell. I heard both mother and daughter's voices and then this teacup-Sookie person opened the door smiling at me. "Why was mommy in your lap yesterday?" No hello or good evening. Just a question. And what a question.

"Elizabeth!" Sookie said, while coming to the front door from the kitchen.

"Mom! You said that I'd know later. It's later already!" The kid said.

"I'm sorry Eric. Please come in. She's been like this the whole day. I think you have a new fan."

I entered their house, kissed Sookie's cheek and then Elizabeth's hand. "How do you do?" I said again to the child. And, as in the night before, I heard a "how do you do?" back, except between laughs. But, like her mother, Elizabeth wasn't one to be distracted and so she repeated her question: "Why was mommy in your lap yesterday?"

"Maybe," I said curving my back so my head was the same height as hers, "just maybe, I _like_ to grab beautiful girls," and then I immediately grabbed her and ran around the living room a little quicker than the normal human pace. She continued laughing and screaming and eventually I dropped her in the couch where I started tickling her for a couple of minutes before I sat next to her. She was still trying to catch her breath when I said: "I am Eric."

Still giggling, she answered me: "I am Elizabeth."

"Like the Queen."

"Is there a Queen Elizabeth?" Her mouth formed a smile exactly like Sookie's while her eyes almost popped out of her face in awe and wonder. She was a cute kid.

"Yes. Two actually. In England."

"Mom, there's a queen with my name," she said to Sookie. Funny how it was the Queen that had _her_ name and not the other way around. Sookie just nodded and then she started telling her daughter how there were still countries with real princes and princesses, not just fake like on TV, and the kid sounded even more amazed with this new information.

And that was it. That was how I met Sookie's daughter. We then stayed there watching TV for another hour before Sookie decided that it was Elizabeth's bed time. And after a little discussion between them about the bed time (which Sookie won), Elizabeth recognized she should go to her bedroom to sleep. But not before she climbed over me and kissed my cheek with a sleepy "Bye Eric."

They both went upstairs and half an hour later Sookie came back to the living room floor alone and sat next to me.

"I bought True Blood today. I have it in the kitchen. Do you want a bottle?"

"No thanks." I answered. We both stayed looking at the TV for a few minutes and then I broke the silence: "Your kid kissed me."

"Was that wrong? I'm sorry. I can tell her not to…"

"No," I interrupted, "not at all. There's no problem. It is just that people usually feel we are something dangerous. There is this instinct that tells you humans to keep away. But she didn't. I do not even know if she noticed how cold I am. This is just strange. Unusual."

"There's an instinct that tells us to keep away from vampires?" She mocked me. "I guess I should go to the repair shop because both mine and my daughter's are completely broken then."

"I guess you should." I answered her smiling. She grabbed my hand and moved closer.

"But meanwhile, until I have it fixed, can I kiss you again Mr. Northman?"

"Is your daughter asleep?"

"She is."

"Then, by all means Miss Stackhouse."

She moved towards me and suddenly it hit me again, her scent: a mixture of strawberry and jasmine. It was fresh, sweet and uniquely her. That smell, along with the way she moved her body, had been driving me crazy since that first night in Fangtasia, when she entered my bar asking about a couple of fangbangers. I'd never forget her tight dress with the flower pattern, and the sinful red shoes that matched her purse.

She kept moving towards me and she did start kissing me. And I was happy to reciprocate. We both fell into the couch, and I pulled her blanket (it was the old "Gran's quilt") over us before I continued kissing her as I had before. Sookie was constantly murmuring my name (as if she still didn't believe I was there with her), and it only made me more hungry for her.

I trailed my lips and tongue down her throat, while my hands wandered over the rest of her. After a few minutes, I asked, just like last time, if I could take her sweater off. But that time, instead of laughing at me, she just said, with the most serious face ever "of course". It was as if she was saying that she belonged to me, and that I could do whatever I wanted with her. Eventually, we moved to her bedroom and we made love for the second time after our decade apart.

Later, when we were hugging, I could feel her heart was still pounding through both our chests, but I just stayed very still and enjoyed the sensation.

Within minutes, she calmed down, and I felt that she had felt asleep. Then, I lifted my head and stared down at her face as I ran my fingers through her hair and brushed it back. And I just stayed there, wondering for a second what did that mean, if she'd go back to Louisiana with me and what would happen in the future. I knew I had to keep her safe and I vowed to myself that I'd never let a fairy touch her ever again in any harmful way.

Little did I know how they'd touch not only Sookie but her kid too.

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**So, I've told you that Natércia is my grandmother's name – and she was the one who raised me since I was 11 yrs old. But I also still have my other grandmother – Adelaide. And even though I didn't grow up with her nor do I see her as often as I'd like to, she deserves a little tribute here too. Anyway, thank you for reading! And don't forget to tell me your thoughts about this chapter, okay? Célia **

**Stranger in This Town is a rock/blues solo album by Richie Sambora, the guitarist from New Jersey band Bon Jovi. This title track charted at #38 on the Mainstream rock charts and occasionally it has been played by Sambora on Bon Jovi's tours, most recently on their Lost Highway Tour in 2008. **_**"Sometimes it's hard to find a friendly face / Feel like a stranger to the human race / It's such a lonely, lonely place." **_


	24. Life's Too Short For Days Like These

**So, I'm just leaving to Madrid, Spain until next Monday evening. But I couldn't go before updating this chapter, obviously! And because I received so many lovely reviews about Elizabeth, I brought her back a little bit again. I hope you'll like chapter 24. And please, please, **_**pleeease**_** review and tell me your thoughts, okay? Besitos e hasta luego! (That's "kiss, kiss and see you later" in Spanish)**

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**Sookie "Life's Too Short For Days Like These"**

Eric had been staying with us for a month and I was feeling as secure (and happy) as ever. His bodyguards still accompanied me and Liz during the day and he had spent every night with us since he had come back. First, he'd sit on our couch with both of us (watching TV, or just talking with me while Lizzie played in front of us) until it was Liz's bed time and then he'd lay in my bedroom with me for a couple of hours or such (and when I said 'lay', I meant… you know). Later, as soon as I was sleeping he'd… well, he'd do whatever he'd do. I really didn't know. He'd "check the perimeter" or something to make sure we were safe.

On Wednesdays, David's dinner night, Eric would still be near but not _in_ the house because he'd enter only after David's visit ended. And why? Well, because neither of them had wanted to meet the other and I was actually glad for that – nowadays I was always in the mood to _avoid_ an argument (is peace such a hard to get wish?). But even thought I couldn't see Eric on those nights when David was still inside (but he'd come in _after_ David's visit end), I could almost feel his glare through the walls and windows of my house. I knew he was out there and it made me feel safe. Yes, I actually felt much safer knowing that Eric was out _there_ than with my still husband's presence in the _same_ room. And that just meant that I trusted Eric more than I did David because I had lost part of my trust in David… I guess, being a "cheating husband" will do that to a person.

Anyway, in the first Wednesday after I had asked Eric's help, David and I had had a quarrel. Well, a little debate. He still wasn't happy that I had asked the vampires' aid, and that I'd owe them. But, in truth, there was nothing David could do about Eric's assistance in our security. I was absolutely determined to keep Liz safe and if that meant owing the vamps, then I'd owe them.

That same first Wednesday, I almost told David that I was with Eric now. I had _wanted_ to tell him. But we had already argued _so much_ that night about getting the vampires' help that I didn't had the courage to add another discussion subject (especially this subject). And I also knew that Eric didn't want to meet David (which he would have to as soon as David would discover everything). Besides, I had also assured my soon to be ex-husband that back when I was still living in Louisiana I hadn't had a relationship with Eric. I had told him over and over again that we had been together for less than a week in Bon Temps but that we had ended everything _way_ before we had had a serious relationship. And that was the absolute truth. But now I was finding it hard to tell David all the recent development of it…

Okay, I admit: Eric and I were now in some kind of… relationship. Or at least I _hoped_ we were. And I hadn't ventured that tiny piece of information to David (I didn't know how, being a were, he didn't smell the sex, but he actually didn't)… However, David had been so nervous lately that I was _still_ waiting for the right moment to tell him all about Eric's new role in my life as my… well… boyfriend? Or should I say… lover? Or at least, again, I _hoped_ that Eric wanted to fill that role.

And besides, it didn't matter that we were still married on paper. In my heart, David was no longer my husband, and I didn't think I was obliged to tell him about my personal (or sexual) life. I'd have to. Soon. But we were all so nervous and on edge about this fairy threat that I felt I really needed to wait for the right moment before I told David everything.

But other than all that nervousness and edginess about the possible fairy threat (which was awful and kept me awake way longer than usual), everything seemed alright again in my life. Especially because of Liz and Eric.

Because yes, then there was Lizzie: Eric's number one fan. I mean: she was already crazy with "mom's friend" (that's what she called him when she was talking about Eric) before she knew that he was a vampire. But after? Oh my!

In Eric's third or fourth night with us, she started insisting that he had to eat chocolate chip ice-cream. When he answered that he didn't eat chocolate, Liz was completely amazed and kept telling him to try it "because it is so very sweet and yummy". And that was when Eric just told her that he didn't eat chocolate because he was a vampire, and so he only drank blood. He actually _said it_. He said it. Just like that. As if it was a normal conversation with a 5-year-old. Yeah, sure, vampires had "came out of the coffin" almost 15 years before, but the public's opinion about them was still on the… Well, let's say the _cautious_ _and_ _doubtful_ side. And many vampires still preferred to hide their condition if possible. Not Eric. And not even to a 5-year old. He just told my child that he drank blood (well, thank God she didn't ask whose blood – I still shiver whenever I think at the possibility of him simply answering "your mother's for instance" if she had made that question).

Obviously, that new knowledge, brought the "show me your fangs" part of the conversation. And even before I was able to tell Liz to behave and keep quiet and tell Eric to not care about what she was saying, he just did it. Eric actually popped his fangs out of his teeth or gums or whatever and showed them to Liz. And after almost 10 minutes of "put them in; now put them out; now put them in again", I intervened and saved a 1000-year-old _very patient_ vampire from my 5-year old daughter.

And when she discovered he could fly? Well, that only developed into a very excited Liz almost screaming at me: "Mom, mom, Eric's just like Superman. Can I go fly with him, can I? Mom, can I? Please mom. Eric's taking me flying around our house. Yes mom? Can I?"

And when she discovered that he slept all day? Her only answer was a very sad: "I wish I could sleep all day, but mom's always getting me out of bed early to go to Ms Sarah's class. I don't like Ms Sarah. I wish my teacher was still Ms Clara. You're lucky. You can sleep all day long and just keep playing at night."

Yes, she loved _everything_ that concerned Eric. You wouldn't believe her crush on him! I started to seriously believe that Lizzie would start dating vampires in 12 years time. God help me if I ever will have to deal with a vampire dating my teenager kid.

But you know what? Eric's patience with my daughter and the fact that Lizzie really liked him was a huge turn on for me. Whenever I saw him making her eat carrots and broccoli without a fight or whenever he clapped his hands for her after a singing and dancing show (especially because Liz couldn't carry a tune any more than I could), I just wanted to undress him and have my way with him. _Right there_! But, obviously, I always waited for Lizzie's bedtime before the sex. And let me tell you: the sex was, as always, absolutely crazy. As in: "so good I lost my mind" kind of crazy.

And there was something else… It was the fact that I was always feeling tempted to tell him that I loved him. Like, all the time. But after his last silence on the subject, I knew I had to take things slowly. So instead we just hugged and… did other things to show how much we cared for each other.

And so, after four weeks, we were all getting used to the new addiction to our family and started to forget the reason behind Eric's being there. But, as usual, the fairies had to come back to my life again and put me and my family in danger.

It happened on a Wednesday and David was already there before 5pm (much earlier than usual), and he was angry. The mother of his 1-year-old son had told him that she was going to mate to another were-bear so she could get pregnant again. And he didn't like it.

Gran was always saying "what goes around, comes around." And she was right. And I was fine with it because David sure deserved it. But let me tell you: David was being _so_ _incredibly_ hypocritical about it…! It was all very well for him, a _man_, to sleep with a young and pretty girl. It was his "duty" and I should accept it. But when his sort of girlfriend or ex-girlfriend or whatever wanted to get pregnant by another man (because of the bear-lineage, or so she told him), then screw the "duty" and the "race". The problem was that just as I hadn't been given a choice in this matter, David's girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend, I didn't know), wasn't giving him any choice either and so he started taking his frustrations out on me.

Besides, he was already on his second beer in fifteen minutes. _Not_ a good thing either.

"But what does the dead guy do all night? And why the hell do you let him be in the same room as Lizzie?" he was asking me in the kitchen.

"I told you already. He comes inside when we are still awake but when we go to sleep he leaves. I don't know what he does. He stays out there protecting us David. And you should be thankful for that."

"But doesn't he work? He's always here…"

"He's a bar-owner. Pam is the co-owner and he isn't needed there. Their staff is well trained, just like ours."

"I don't like it Sook. And I don't get it either."

"What is it that you don't get?" I was talking to him and making dinner at the same time and I was fed up with this conversation. Liz was "playing runway models" in front of her mirror in her bedroom. She was such a girlie-girl.

"I don't get why he's doing all this: paying the daytime bodyguards and staying here all night. Is he fucking you?"

"Watch your language! Lizzie's upstairs."

"Answer me, damn it," he said, grabbing my arms strongly and making me turn to face him. I almost snapped and I really wanted to scream at him, but I knew I couldn't. Not with my daughter upstairs. I didn't want to cause a scene with her in the house. So, I just tried to free myself but he was grabbing me with too much strength.

"David, let me go, you're hurting me." I managed to say. But it was as if he hadn't even listened to me because he kept grabbing my arms with all his strength.

"Answer me! Is he fucking you? Did you spread your legs to a dead guy Sookie? Is a dead dick fucking you?" he almost screamed at me.

This was so unlike David that I was completely perplexed with all that. It _had_ to be the beer. Maybe he had already drunk more before he had arrived? Because this was not the David I knew. But, drunk questions or not, there was no way I'd answer _that_ query. Absolutely no way. I thought about Lizzie upstairs and I tried to calm myself and cool down our conversation.

"He is my friend David. I told you that already. He's helping me because I saved his life once. It was daytime and he was sleeping in a hotel. But there was a bomb in the hotel. And I woke up both him and Pam and we all left the hotel before it exploded. And then I managed to keep him away from the sun and so he didn't burn. And I've told you this so many times David. I saved his life and we stayed friends. I prevented him from burning to death for crying out loud. Can you imagine? Burning to death? He obviously feels grateful and he wants to help me back as well." Absolutely no lie there.

David seemed to calm down and his hands left my upper arms. I would bruise there for sure. And then I just thanked God that the sun hadn't set yet because I was sure that had Eric been out there, he'd get inside and he and David might end up fighting. And even though I didn't like David at all at that moment, a fight between them (and especially with Liz upstairs) would be the last thing I wanted.

"That might explain the paying the bodyguards Sookie. But he is spending the nights here with you. If he hasn't fucked you yet, he's trying to. I'm pretty sure he wants to fuck you. But I won't allow it. You're my wife and he isn't staying here anymore. I will."

I tried to interrupt him to tell him 'no' and that I definitely wasn't his wife anymore, but he didn't let me. Instead he continued talking: "I will. I'll move back here. And not to the office room. But the bedroom. My bedroom. We'll be a fucking family again. Hell, we might even give Lizzie a baby brother or sister. We already have a beautiful daughter; I bet we can make another great baby." And with that he grabbed my arms again and tried to kiss me. I pushed him and started asking him to stop and to leave. But he _still_ wasn't listening to me. Instead, he had one hand grabbing both my wrists even strongly than before and the other hand on my hair, pulling it to force me to kiss him.

We were interrupted by Liz, who, thank God, didn't notice what was happening between her parents.

"Mom?" At Lizzie's voice, David immediately released me and I moved towards my daughter, who looked scared.

"Yes, baby, what is it?"

"There're some strange people outside. I saw from my window. I think they hurt John and Brad." John and Brad were two of our bodyguards.

I looked at David and he was already in fight mode and for a second he reminded me of Eric. "Go and hide her upstairs, like… below the sink, in that closet in the bathroom or something. I'll go to the car to get my cell," he said.

"No. Use our telephone. Don't go out there David."

The then picked the phone but immediately he added: "It's disconnected. Go. Hide her and come back." He said while he was opening the drawers and looking for anything with iron.

"There's lemon juice in the fridge." I said from upstairs. I left Elizabeth hidden in the bathroom after I made her promise me twice that she wouldn't leave until I came for her.

As soon as I got downstairs, both David and I grabbed our water pistols already full of lemon juice and the iron sticks that we had bought almost six years before when I was still pregnant.

"Everything will be all right," he said. But I could only answer "oh God!" because in that moment five really tall, really beautiful and really scary looking fairies popped into our living room.

"Little cousin," the tallest said to me. I hadn't ever met him.

"I'm not your cousin. And I don't know you. Please leave my house," I answered.

"I didn't believe up until now. But it _is_ true." A second fairy, the fattest, said looking appalled at me. "It's exactly like Niall's. Your father and Lincel were telling the truth," he continued talking to the first one.I wasn't sure what he was talking about but I thought it was the bloody essential spark again. To hell with the spark.

"If you won't leave, then please tell us what you want," David said. I guess he was trying to be brave. But his voice just told them that he was scared to death. He was even trembling and shaking. Jesus! And why hadn't he changed into a bear form yet? I knew he wouldn't be able to talk that way, but at least he'd be stronger and fight better… Maybe he thought that it would be preferable if he changed later?

"I want your little woman here dead. Then there won't be any proof that an almost human can have the perfect essential spark. That way Lincel won't ever rule," the tallest one spoke again, and then he almost laughed to himself before he continued talking, "she should have kept you safe if she wanted to use you as a political tool."

I suddenly remembered Claudine's words from when I was in the hospital after the Fae War: _"__As a part human descendant of the fairies with your telepathic skills, you could be like our 'poster-girl'... you are just 1/8th fairy __and__ you have the essential spark…"_

Ohh… So apparently Lincel was the one who wanted me well and alive to show how mixing fae blood with human blood didn't necessarily weaken a spark. Therefore it wasn't her we should have been afraid of. _"Little cousin."_ It was her full-fairy younger brother that I should have been scared of.

"I don't care about your politics. Please leave," I said. But it was as if he hadn't heard me at all.

"There's a human child upstairs," the tallest said to the others, "go get it." It? My child wasn't an "it". But I wasn't worried about that. I just worried about Elizabeth. Especially when two of the fairies followed the order and started climbing up the stairs.

"No! No! Leave my daughter alone. I'll go with you. Kill me if you must. But leave my daughter alone," I pleaded.

"The child's yours? You have a daughter?" The tallest asked me. Apparently, he was the leader of this peculiar group. "Father didn't tell us… Oh Niall, Niall… what else are you hiding from us…?" he said to no one in particular. And then I saw the two fairies that had gone upstairs coming down with a crying Elizabeth between them. Each was holding an arm of my scared daughter.

"Leave her! Just leave her!" I screamed and started pumping the lemon juice on them. Their skin burned and I continued trying to fight them all. But I was no use. I couldn't win a fight against five fairies all by myself. And then I realized that I wasn't all by myself and that David was there and he _should_ be helping me. And yes, David was there. But he sure wasn't helping me because in the intervening time he had dropped his weapons already and was like a statue. I guessed that he was in shock or something and I knew that it wasn't his fault but back then I just wanted to slap him awake.

"The child's is like Lincel's. Stronger than yours as well." The fat guy said to the tall one. They were still talking about the damn spark. Jesus Christ! But there were more important issues for me to care because meanwhile, a third fairy had taken my lemon-juice gun from me. He then pushed me to the floor. And so I found myself in my knees in the middle of my living room. It was the perfect position to beg. And that was what I did next: "Leave her alone. I beg you. Please. I'll go with you. But please, for the love of God, leave her alone."

"Enough," he said to me before he looked at his peers, "kill her right now. And then, kill her child," the tallest said pointing at me and then at Liz.

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**So? What did you think about David? And Lizzie? And the fairy-storyline? I hope you don't mind my changes to the spark/fairies. Any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Opinions? Questions? Screams (at me for ending the chapter like this)? :-) Fiquem bem! (That's "take care" in Portuguese!) Célia**

"**Life's Too Short For Days Like These" was never released, only played live when Jon Bon Jovi was touring for his second album "Destination Anywhere". It maybe could have ended on a third solo record he tried to put out in 1998. But even though it was never featured in an album I thought that it was an appropriate title to this chapter. And we all have had this thought at least once in our lives, right? Besides, the lyric is great: **_**"Life's too short for days like these / Wish I could close my eyes and just go back to sleep / It's hard to keep running when you're down on your knees / Cause life's too short / You know that life's too short for days like these"**_


	25. Blood on Blood

**Hi! As soon as I was back from my trip (and **_**way**_** before I unpacked) I ran to my computer to see your feedback on last chapter! And I must thank all of you who are reading, "favoriting" (is this a word?) and putting my story in your alerts! But there's a special thanks to my lovely reviewers! Thank you! **

**Now, welcome to the longest chapter of this story so far! I hope you'll enjoy it (and that you don't mind longer chapters)! Cheers from Portugal, Célia**

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**Eric "Blood On Blood"**

The last four weeks with Sookie had been great. Well, except Wednesdays. But even when Sookie's husband was there, having dinner with her and their daughter, I liked to be close by and hear how different Sookie was and sounded with him. It was evident that these dinners were for the child's benefit and nothing more. And if she needed her father and wanted to be with him, then so be it. Who was I to talk about what a kid from a divorced couple needed? Back when I had children, there was no divorce. And, now that I think about it, there were no fathers around either.

The children were mostly at the care of women, who were mainly concerned with them and also with looking after the home and making and washing clothing. The only time I had spent with my children was on those few long winter evenings when we enjoyed board games with pieces made of bone or glass. But those were really rare nights. And it had nothing to do with today's child care. So, what did I knew about it? Absolutely nothing.

And that's why, when I discovered that the bear was to have dinner there once a week, I just shut up after I said that I didn't want to meet him – I'd just stay outside the house until he'd be gone.

And so, as usual, on my fifth Wednesday night in Tennessee, I left the hotel after drinking from a little too-fat girl (I had drunk from Sookie five times during this past month but only when she asked me to do it) and drove to Sookie's. As soon as I got there, though, I could tell something was wrong and I immediately smelled John and Brad's bodies in the trunk of their own SUV. The whole area around the car reeked of fairy and I immediately ran to the door, kicked it down and entered the living room to find an appalling sight.

Closest to me was David, who was hypnotized or something because he was just standing there, not moving. Two fairies were grabbing Elizabeth's arms in the opposite part of the living room. Sookie was on her knees between them all asking, no, she was _begging_ them to leave her daughter alone. And three more fairies were standing there just holding their weapons.

The fairies' smell and Sookie's tears transformed me into a crazy motherfucker warrior and I just saw my enemies and could only think about defeating them. And so I started fighting the three closest fairies. Then, as soon as I started grabbing, biting and trying to tear those fucking fairies apart, the other two left Elizabeth so they could fight me as well. Sookie immediately ran to the child and hugged her. Then she left towards the stairs with Elizabeth in her arms. Sookie was screaming something at me, but I couldn't understand what it was because I was fighting (unarmed) five strong (and armed) fairies.

As soon as I could, I took a sword from one of the Fae and I suddenly felt much better. I was a fucking machine with a sword (even when I was alive, I had always been) and I managed to kill two of the fairies somewhat easily. Their blood ran into the carpet and I almost got high just by smelling it. Meanwhile, the three other fairies were still attacking me, but I was ready for them. Or so I thought. Because when I fatally wounded the third one, the two others managed to hurt me gravely too.

So… I had killed three of the five fairies, but by then I was losing too much blood and for a while I just tried to defend and protect myself, while I thought that perhaps I wouldn't be able to kill the last remaining fairies. One of them was freakishly tall (even taller than me) and the other was a fat motherfucker. And they were both much better warriors than the other three had been. And they were still without major wounds. Whereas I was bleeding severely.

Fuck. To die in the hands of a couple of fairies was not what I had in mind. But I was really feeling my strength leaving my body through my bleeding wounds. And when I thought that I wouldn't even be able to defend myself (let alone attack them), Sookie came to my rescue. Sookie, _a human_, came to my rescue. And how did she do it? Well, she had gone upstairs with the kid, but then she had come back again to fight the fairies. Yes, she had come back _again_ to _fight_ the fairies (even though I'm sure she knew that I wouldn't want her to – I'd much rather that she'd run away as far as she could, obviously). And as soon as she arrived downstairs after dropping her child in her bedroom or somewhere else upstairs, she then immediately started using some sort of water pistol and the fairies' skin started burning.

I smelled lemon juice and I immediately understood why the fairies' faces showed pain. Sookie was shooting them with the ultimate weapon – citrines. Their skin started burning and melting whenever the lemon juice touched them just as if they had been in contact with acid.

And that was all the distraction I needed. Because when they both moved towards Sookie to take the water pistols off her hands, they made the huge mistake of turning their backs to me. Stupid fairies. They'd probably thought that I was already way too hurt to fight them because I really was bleeding severely. But bleeding severely or not, I still had enough strength in me. Hell, I didn't get to be more than 1000-years old without some fucking seriously strong will-power. And when they turned their backs to me so they could take the lemon-guns from Sookie, I was finally able to kill the two fucking fairies.

I cut the tallest's throat with his own sword and I then I grabbed the fat one's hair and shoulder and I sank my fangs in his neck tearing it. I drank all his blood (something I hadn't had time to do with the other fairies, while fighting them) and I immediately felt better. Ohhh, blood… Ohh, sweet fairy blood. And I got high in that same second.

First there had been the heat of the battle; then there was the fact that Sookie had almost been taken from me again; and finally the fairies' smell and blood. All that combined was too much. Way too much for me. So I immediately dropped the drained fairy corpse, ran to Sookie and grabbed her with all I had. Bloodlust. Bloodlust _indeed_. I enfolded her in my arms, I took hold of her body and I kissed her lips like crazy. And when I looked at her, what I saw was what a dying hungry man sees when he is given some bread. I pushed her against a wall and I was less than one second away from tearing her clothes apart and have my way with her, right there, in her own living room in the middle of five starting-to-decay fairy corpses when I heard Elizabeth's voice calling for her mother from upstairs.

I snapped (slightly) from my bloodlust and I dropped Sookie to the floor while I said to her: "Go to your daughter. I'll deal with all this and meet you upstairs when I can." She nodded and did as I told her. Sookie's mouth and her face around it were bloody after my kiss, and I almost lost it again. But I could hear that her kid was still crying for her mother and I managed to let Sookie go upstairs.

I then took a few unnecessary breathes and sat on her couch for a few minutes, trying to calm down, so I could properly think what to do next, because my bloodlust was still very high. Fuck. Just the sight of Sookie covered with all that fairy blood… I just wanted to drink her and fuck her until dawn. But now was not obviously the time, so I kept taking my needless breathes and tried to calm down.

But thankfully, the fairies' corpses kept decomposing and their smells stopped being so alluring. And ten or fifteen minutes later, they were actually stinking. I then went to the kitchen and washed my face and my hands. The cold water felt good and it helped me to get my mind together again. I took my phone from my pocket. Two missing phone calls from Pam. She had obviously felt my panic, my anger and my bloodlust. I'd have to call her back soon, but it wasn't that important yet. I tried to send her some "I'm okay" feelings and then went back to the living room.

David was still standing exactly in the same place, and with this eyes still focused on the wall. Was he in shock, as humans sometimes are? Or was this the product of Fae magic? But neither Sookie nor her kid had been immobilized this way… Were they immune to Fae's magic just as Sookie was resistant to vampire glamour? I'd attempt to figure that out later, but not yet. Now, there was a mess to deal with. I left the house and went to the front door. I looked around and there were no noisy neighbors. Good. No one had heard the fight or the screams.

I went back inside again and then I grabbed David and glamoured him. I told him to go home, stay there the whole day tomorrow and just come back to Sookie's after a phone call from us. I looked around me and saw all the blood stains and the vanishing fairy corpses. I knew that I should call Mercedes Smith, the local vampire sheriff. But we hadn't exactly gotten along well when I visited her last month to say that I'd be staying for a while. She had insisted to know why and for how long I'd be in Tennessee and when I didn't answer her… Well, let's just say that it was a tense evening. A _very_ tense evening.

And so, instead of calling her, I picked my phone again and called a vampire that I had met in France right before Louis XVI had been decapitated. I hadn't talked to him in almost a decade, but I knew he was still a sheriff in Tennessee too. And even though Cleveland (or even Bradley County) was not Savage's area, he was glad to help me and he said he would call the proper people and send someone as soon as possible to deal with all that chaos. I also asked him to send four strong weres to the house in the morning, so they could be Sookie's bodyguards. And again, Edmond answered me that he would take care of it and he didn't ask for anything in return. Instead, the just said "Congo, 1931". He was referring to the time when I had fought alongside him against a coven of vampires that was trying to get Edmond's land and his money. I acknowledged him that this debt was paid off and I ended the phone call.

Slowly, I then went upstairs and I immediately could hear Sookie trying to calm Elizabeth in the kid's bedroom. I really wanted to glamour the youngster and make her forget everything but I wasn't sure if Sookie would allow me. Or if the kid, being Sookie's progeny, could be glamoured, for that matter. And besides, my clothes were drenched in blood. So instead of going there, I just went to Sookie's bathroom and took a shower. I put a towel around my lower body and another in my hair and I walked to Sookie's bedroom. I managed to find a jumpsuit (a too small jumpsuit) that smelled like bear and I dressed.

I then went to the child's bedroom. She was still pretty nervous. Sookie had brought her upstairs again as soon as the two fairies released her but the girl had been grabbed, she had seen her mother begging desperately and she had also watched the beginning of my fight with the fairies. No wonder the kid was still panicky.

And then an awful thought crossed my mind when I wondered if she was scared of me as well. But as soon as I got in her room, she left her bed, ran towards me and hugged my waist crying and thanking me for helping her and her mom. I picked her up and brought her back to her bed. Sookie's eyes were full of water. She was moments away from crying.

"Can I glamour her?" I whispered. Sookie nodded and I proceeded to make Elizabeth forget that night and substitute it by a nice dinner with her dad and then bed time. Thankfully, she was easily glamoured and she was asleep almost instantly.

Sookie thanked me and we hugged for a while, both of us sitting on Elizabeth's bed.

"Brad and John?" she asked whispering.

"They were already dead when I arrived here."

"Oh Jesus," she whispered again. I could smell her tears and I felt her grabbing my upper body with much more strength than before.

I let her cry for them for a while before I said: "They died heroes Sookie. They died in service for a cause and their pack will take care of their families."

"But they were so young… And Brad just had a baby."

I tried to comfort her, and I answered: "And the baby will be well taken care of. Like I said, the pack will attend to their families and I'll help as well. And they died for a good reason, it was an honorable death. We should all be so lucky as to die in such a praiseworthy way."

I knew that these kinds of thoughts were incomprehensible to Sookie. As an American woman born in the late 20th century, she didn't consider a respectable death such an important concept. But I knew that the families and the pack would take pride knowing that both weres had died in such a way. And I meant what I had said: I'd make sure that they families would be, at least financially, compensated for it.

But even without agreeing with me, Sookie didn't answer and instead just cried while she hugged me. Almost half an hour later, I felt her finally calming down and I whispered: "Someone will be downstairs cleaning everything tonight. I won't leave until the morning. David is already at his place."

She nodded and I kissed her forehead before I added: "You'll have four new bodyguards tomorrow morning to stay with you during the day. I'll be here as soon as it's dark. Now you should sleep. Try to rest. We will talk tomorrow." She nodded again and then laid down in her daughter's bed, hugging the child.

I spent the rest of the night on the phone with Edmond, making sure that their security for the following days was what I wanted and also supervising the cleaning crew. Edmond would also take care of the two weres' bodies and talk with their families and pack about a financial atonement. I left just a few moments before the sun was up.

-x-

The next night as soon as I woke up I drove to Sookie's. Her new bodyguards were there and I was happy to see that they looked as strong and bodily capable as I had wanted them to be. We talked for a few minutes and then I entered the house. Both Sookie and Elizabeth were watching TV.

"Mommy didn't let me go to school. She's odd today." The child said as soon as I got in. The room smelled strongly of bleach and other cleaning chemicals and there was a couple of new rugs and furniture. But, other than that, everything was just the same. Nobody could tell what had happened there on the previous night.

"She is?" I asked Elizabeth.

"She's boring too," she answered me.

"Enough with that Elizabeth. Now, don't you have drawings to show to Eric? Go and get them so he can see it." Sookie said and the kid started getting up from the couch. You could tell in Sookie's face that she hadn't slept a second the night before.

As soon as Elizabeth left the room, Sookie whispered to me: "Thank you for everything you did yesterday. If you hadn't been here… Oh my God. I don't even know what would have happened. Thank you so much Eric. Thank you. And for the cleaning too, obviously."

She was almost crying again so I quickly dismissed her thanks and I answered her instead: "We have to talk to Niall."

Sookie cleaned her face with her hands even though her tears hadn't left her eyes yet. She then took a deep breath and said: "I've called his number many times in the last few weeks. I was trying to know more about all of this fairy business, but he never answered it. Instead, this other guy just says that the prince isn't taking any calls. From anyone."

"I'll call him. He'll talk to me," she nodded and I added, "Sookie, we really have to speak with him."

"I know."

"Tonight."

She nodded again and then said "As soon as Lizzie's asleep." And so we watched Elizabeth play and draw for another hour or so before she went to bed. Then, I grabbed my cell and called Niall. Some other Fairy answered his phone and said that the Prince wasn't taking phone calls from anyone, just like Sookie had said. I then obviously threatened him, but to no avail. The best I got from him was that he'd pass any message that I wanted.

"Tell him that Eric Northman has here five _dead_ full fairies. And ask him how many more do I have to kill for Niall to call me back." Forty minutes later, Niall did call me back. I told him that Sookie had been attacked by fairies but was unharmed. He wanted more details, but I told him nothing else, of course. He answered that he would pop in soon. And then Sookie and I just stayed here, on her couch, hugging in silence.

Two hours later, Niall showed up and we told him everything. Sookie's great grandfather looked sick (apparently, and even though he was recovering, his lemon poisoning had indeed been serious). And he also looked really tired and old. And when we were done telling him about the previous night he looked even sicker, more tired and older. But he kept his "fairy prince" façade and still appeared as conceited and arrogant as ever.

He then told us about his temporary convalescence and the dispute that it had brought between his oldest half-fairy daughter and his second child – the full-fairy oldest son that was the tallest of yesterday's fairies. But Niall had only thought that it was just a silly disagreement between brother and sister. Hah. _Silly_ disagreement. That had to be the understatement of the year.

And apparently, Niall was _still_ having a hard time believing that his son, Tinocrell, had _actually_ attacked Sookie. But eventually he said that it made sense. "A twisted kind of sense" were his words. But then he added: "He has always been aggressive, but deep down, he has… he _had_ a good soul," Niall said.

Well, fuck _that_. Aggressive or not, good soul or not, the fairy had attacked Sookie and had been killed for it. And I wasn't sorry. I just hoped that that would be the end of everything and that Niall wouldn't expect my death because I had killed his son. And then, for some moments, I wondered if Niall was silently mourning his son's death or giving thanks that Sookie was alive.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by Sookie's voice: "You have to close the portals."

"But child you must understand that…"

"No Niall. It is you who must understand. Those who wanted to close the passage six years ago were right, though for the wrong reason. It isn't the Fae who need to be protected from the human world and the mixture of human blood. It's the humans who have to be protected from you. I need to be protected. My daughter needs to be protected. Please Niall, close the portals."

Niall tried to summon up a protest but he just couldn't make the words come out of his mouth. He knew Sookie was right.

"Very well," he said after a while. He then rose, he bent and kissed Sookie's cheek. There was power in his touch; Sookie felt it and even I felt it. "The passages will be closed by the end of next week."

"I am glad for that," she answered.

"And Sookie… you know that I am very proud of you and that I love you very much, don't you child?"

"Yes. And I love you too, and I am also very proud of belonging to your family. But I have my own family now. And I must protect my daughter. I hope you understand it."

"I do," he moved even closer to her, "and I am sorry that you had to suffer at the hands of our kind once more."

"So am I," she answered. His hand caressed her face once more, he kissed her cheek again and then he popped out.

Sookie moved towards me on the couch in silence and we hugged again for a while. As a vampire, I had always felt comfortable with the silence. When you live forever, there's no problem wasting a few moments doing nothing and being silent. And I guessed that Sookie finally felt the same, because we just stayed there, hugging and looking at each other.

Sometime later though, she broke the silence when she started crying once more. I had to do something and so I said to her: "I will stay here in Tennessee as long as you need me."

"No. You don't have to. There's no need. And you won't stay here."

I couldn't understand. And I couldn't believe it either. After the last few weeks and after the previous night's attack, I didn't think she would leave me again. But apparently she would. I remembered Ocella's words: _"You embarrass me. You embarrass yourself. The bond is closed already. Why the hell are you still thinking about a fucking meal?"_ Yes, why indeed. Why the hell was I always making the same mistake? I never behaved like this in any other situation. I always pondered every aspect of everything. Except whenever Sookie was concerned. And, apparently, I had been caught in her web again. She had used me for protection, but now she was leaving me again. Suddenly I heard in my head her words from a decade before: _"I need space from you."_ Fuck! Again?

I was feeling awful when I asked: "You don't want me here?"

"I want you. But not here. We are coming back to Louisiana." She was? There I was thinking that I was being dumped again, when she was actually saying that she was coming home with me. I hugged her even more closely.

"Are you serious? You will?" She nodded to me and I felt amazing. _"There's Lizzie's school, her friends. And there's also the restaurant, my job. And David."_ "And what about your job and your kid's school?"

"I can get another job. And Liz can definitively move to another school and meet new colleagues."

"And your husband?"

"My soon to be _ex_-husband," she answered me, "is a dick. His girlfriend is dating another man and he decided that he wanted to come back home and for us to be a couple again. And he was very strong and full of himself then when it was just the two of us. But when it did matter, he froze. I don't care about him anymore."

"_Very strong and full of himself…" _Could it be that…? If that fucker had done it… "The bruises on your arms?" I asked, "Did the fairies do it?" Sookie hadn't had those bruises the night before. But she had now. I was almost praying to the Gods that the fairies had been the ones responsible for it. They were already dead through my hands. But if it had been that bear…

"It doesn't matter anymore. I'm leaving with you."

Oh damn the bear… had the fucker really harmed her? "Was it the bear Sookie? Did he hurt you?"

"Eric, listen to me: it doesn't matter. I'm leaving with you and I don't care about him anymore. I know he's Lizzie's dad and I'll allow him to be with her whenever they want. But that's it. I have to think about me too and about what I want. And I want to be with you. I've always wanted to be with you. I love you."

Okay. _That _shut me up. And after _that_ I didn't want to talk about her fucking ex-husband anymore.

"_I love you." _It was the second time she was saying that she loved me. And now we weren't talking on the phone, but rather in person. And I was sure that I felt the same. But I still couldn't answer that I loved her back. I couldn't speak the words. I was confident that I would soon, but not yet. I was still somewhat afraid that she would change her mind yet again and I would be left suffering. Just like Sookie herself was so fond of, I remembered an old saying: "once bitten, twice shy."

So I _still_ couldn't say the words back to her. But this was just our start. There would be much more time in our future and I would be able to tell her what I already felt. Yes, I would get there sooner or later, so I smiled and hugged her again.

"And I couldn't be happier about it." I answered and I then realized that she had stopped crying.

I then thought about all the problems we'd have to face. And I tried to remember what had ultimately broken us apart before, because I definitely didn't want that to happen again. But I just couldn't. I could only think about the woman in my arms right then and there and how she belonged there, in _my_ arms. She was coming to Louisiana with me. She wanted to be with me. She loved me. Yes, I really couldn't be happier about it. I was almost exploding with all those happy and warm feelings inside of me. I was really feeling like a... I don't know... like a recently-graduated teenager or something... I mean, I was feeling like with his whole future ahead, instead of someone who had already lived for more than 1000 years.

"Eric?"

"Hum?"

"Will we live in your house?"

"Do you want to?"

"Do you?" She asked me back and then she kept saying, "I mean, it's your house and I understand that vampires don't like to share their res…"

"Very much so," I said interrupting her before she'd start telling _me_ how _I_ probably didn't want her there, "but what about you? Do _you_ want to live in my house?"

She thought for a couple of seconds and then she answered: "It depends."

I'd move to Bon Temps if she wanted. Hell, I'd even move to Tennessee if she wanted. Pam could take care of the bars by herself and I didn't really care that much about my sheriff's position. I'd hate to have to bow to Mercedes Smith, but I'd do it. And besides, I had lived in so many places during my life that it just wasn't an issue for me. "On what?"

"Do you live in a cold castle or a mausoleum?"

I laughed and hugged her even closer to me. She was just teasing me. She'd live with me. And I really couldn't be happier about it. "No, I do not."

"And do you have black walls or do you keep your coffin in a dingy damp basement or bat cave or something like that?"

"_Bat cave?"_ I kissed the top of her head. Her hair smelled fresh and clean. "I have a basement, yes, but it's just a regular bedroom. And I have a couple of coffins in an extra room. But I always sleep in a bed. Besides, all the rooms in my house are light-safe too. So sometimes, I even sleep upstairs."

"You didn't answer about the black walls… And is your house in an inaccessible mountain or in the middle of a forest or something?"

"Lover, I live in a suburbia neighborhood. The outside of my house is white and the inside walls are pastel colors. And if I remember correctly, _you_ were the one who lived next to a graveyard for two decades before you ran away to Tennessee for another decade." I added laughing.

She laughed as well. But then, suddenly grave, she asked: "How old were you when you were turned?"

"I don't know. Late twenties, I guess."

"I'll be 37 in two months." She said and then she shrived.

Oh, no, no, no. I wouldn't let her create any more problems. And age was such a non-problem… She looked great no matter what her age. Actually, I thought that she only looked slightly older than before. And just maybe around her eyes. Her body sure didn't look older than before. We'd worry about it when she'd started to look like my mother or maybe my grandmother. Not before. And I didn't look twentyish myself. Back when I was alive, life was much harder and we grew old much quicker than nowadays. And I didn't really know how old I looked like, but I was definitively sure that I didn't look like those twenty something boys of these days.

Still hugging her, I replied: "You don't look a day older than 18."

* * *

**So? Eric-like enough? And what did you think about Eric **_**still**_** not answering Sookie's "I love you"? And will they get along okay in Louisiana? How will David react to the news? Will Sookie still freak out about her age? And just a little detail: I'll bring back another past-character at the end of the next chapter. Who do you think it will be? Thank you for reading. And please review if you can. Célia**

**"Blood on Blood" is a song performed by American rock band Bon Jovi, from their massive-selling 1988 album New Jersey. Running six minutes, it is a song about everlasting friendship and loyalty, and seems to have been inspired by Jon Bon Jovi's childhood friendships, as he even mentions himself as one of the three friends in the song **_**"Bobby's an uptown lawyer, Danny's a medicine man, and Me, I'm just the singer in a long-haired rock 'n' roll band"**_**, although in recent concert performances, Bon Jovi changes the lyrics to **_**"Bobby's an uptown lawyer, Danny does the best that he can, and Me, I'm still the singer in a long-haired rock 'n' roll band"**_


	26. It's My Life

**Hello! So, I PM'ed some of you saying that this would be a Pam's chapter with the "old character from the past" at the end of it. But turns out, it isn't! Sorry! The thing is: it was way too hard to have Pam explaining David's reaction – it had to be Sookie to do it. So, here you have a new Sookie's chapter! And the next one is almost done, I'll update soon. Anyway, thank you for reading and please review if you can (I really want to improve my writing skills and your feedback is needed). Oh, and I need to thank Charhamblin for her help! Love to you all from Portugal, Célia**

* * *

**Sookie "It's My Life"**

From one second to another I moved from thinking that I was dead for sure to being extremely hopeful. And all because of Eric. Just like in a big-budget Hollywood action movie, the tall, strong and blond hero stormed in, right at the last second, and saved the day. Well, at least he tried to save the day. Which was way more than I could say about my husband. What the hell was wrong with David? Those damn fairies were there talking about killing Liz and he just froze?

Anyway, as soon as Eric came in, the fairies ran to him and attacked him. Or _he_ attacked them, I don't really know. I could only hear those dreadful screams and grunts… So I did the only thing I could do: I ran to Liz and took her upstairs.

Leaving my daughter hidden in her bedroom was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life. Lizzie was extremely afraid. Hell, she was terrified. And her look when I told her I was leaving her alone once more just broke my heart. Liz screamed and tried to hold on to my legs begging me to stay there with her. And I wanted nothing more than to hug my baby and leave to the other side of the world with her in my arms. But I couldn't. I just couldn't. We weren't safe yet and Eric was still downstairs with five (five!) fairies all by himself. So I made myself leave Lizzie's embrace and almost screamed at her to stay there and not move, before I left my crying 5-year-old daughter all by herself. And let me tell you: Lizzie's panicked eyes will forever be engraved in my memory – the sight of her face when I moved to the door and left her there will forever be my own personal worst nightmare.

But I had to do it and so I went back downstairs again and immediately saw three fairy corpses scattered through my living room. And, oh my God! Eric was soaked in blood. Soaked! And by his extremely white face (even more white than normal) I was sure that most of it was _his_ blood. I immediately grabbed two of the lemon-water guns that David (still frozen) had next to his feet and started shooting at the fairies. And suddenly everything happened way too fast for me… I blinked and just like that, in a split of a second, the last two still-living fairies weren't living anymore and Eric was grabbing me.

I felt my back hit a wall and Eric's tongue entering my mouth. Jesus! What was that? I knew all about bloodlust and the vampires' association between blood and sex, but Jeez Louise! That was so _not _needed then. There were decaying fairy corpses all over my house and I had let my scared daughter alone in her bedroom. And no matter how heavenly Eric's kisses always were, then was definitively _not_ the right time. And then, luckily, by some God's miracle, Eric snapped out of his lust and told me to go upstairs, which I quickly did.

I ran to my room, changed my dirtied with blood t-shirt and washed my face swiftly. I then ran back to Liz's room and I heard her scream again when I entered. But as soon as she realized it was me she stopped yelling and just kept crying. I tried to comfort and calm her by talking to her and repeating over and over again that everything was fine, but she wasn't even listening to me, let alone speaking back to me. She just cried nonstop and grabbed me for almost an hour without showing any signs of ever stopping her cries or letting my arms go until Eric entered her room too.

And then Liz talked again for the first time after our ordeal when she hugged and then thanked Eric for saving both of us. Seeing how she trusted him and feeling myself extremely thankful to him too, I let go of my last defenses and I let my eyes fill themselves with the water I knew my tears held. Eric picked up Elizabeth, brought her back to her bed and then he proceeded to glamour her into forgetting everything. And I felt even more grateful to him for preventing my daughter from becoming a traumatized child.

I asked him about the two weres who had become somewhat our friends during the last month and then I cried for them and for their families when Eric told me that Brad and John had died. I was feeling so helpless then that crying in Eric's chest seemed like the only thing I could do. There was only his chest in the whole world.

Soon though, he had to leave and I just laid next to my sleeping daughter. I tried to sleep too but I kept seeing Lizzie's panic face and hearing the tall fairy's voice telling the others to kill us. So instead, I just stayed there, hugging Liz while I heard people downstairs – both their voices and their voids of a brain. Once in the while I could hear Eric's voice too telling them what to do and that was the only thing that kept me intact.

A few hours later, when the sun rose, I was awed that I kept hearing people working, talking and moving downstairs so I left my child's bedroom. The vampires that had worked there had been substituted by some sort of weres during the night and they were still cleaning my living room – there were already new rugs and they were moving in a couple of new furniture pieces. I went to the kitchen, made some coffee and then offered it to them. Their job was almost done and after a couple more hours I was left alone in my clean living room. Four huge guys that I hadn't even met rang the bell and told me they'd be close by keeping us safe.

I thanked them and closed the door before I sat on my old couch (that somehow had stayed blood-free). I was still sitting there, thinking about Brad and John and how sorry I was that they had lost their lives, when Liz appeared with a sleepy face asking who had rung our bell. I dismissed her questions, made her breakfast and told her there would be no school that day.

And obviously, true to her form, Liz complained about it – except that day instead of complaining about Ms Sarah, she complained that she wanted to go to school. The previous night and my lack of sleep had taken away all my patience and I just told her to go to her room and just play there. And then I stayed the whole day thinking about my life and the people in it. Liz would come to me once in a while but I guess she knew that her mom was not in a good mood so she gave me my space.

Later that night, Eric showed up again and he actually managed to talk to Niall on the phone. I had tried to do the same thing dozens of times without avail, but he succeeded at the first try. A couple of hours later, my great grandfather appeared in my house and we talked for a while before he left with the promise to close the portals in less than two weeks.

And then, just like on the previous night, I felt again that Eric's chest and his arms around me were my whole world and I told him that I'd be going back to Louisiana. I wanted nothing else than to think about our future back in my state.

But Eric though had other conversational plans when he saw my bruised arms: "Was it the bear Sookie? Did he hurt you?" he asked eventually.

I looked at him. Eric truly had this really angry air about him but he was trying hard to keep his anger at bay. And I loved him a little bit more for trying to stay calm. And it didn't matter that we had stayed almost ten years apart, I knew Eric. And I knew about his instincts and how his mind worked. I knew about the possessiveness, and I was absolutely sure that Eric was already plotting ways of hurting David because of my black and blue marks. And the fact that he was trying to not over-react about it because he knew I wouldn't want it, spoke volumes. But those were just a couple of light bruises (okay, maybe not so light) and they didn't matter anymore.

Don't get me wrong: I wasn't condoning David's attitude and it would take me a while to forgive him. But he had been a good friend for almost a decade and we had been married for over seven years. And during all that time, David had never even raised a hand to me or our daughter. I wouldn't allow him, obviously, but it was more than that. I knew that David wasn't that way. He wasn't. He was just going through a really stressful moment and I'm sure the alcohol he had drunk hadn't helped at all.

And it really didn't matter anymore. Actually, it was almost a good thing that David had acted that way because now I wouldn't have any scruples for leaving to Louisiana with Liz. Yes, I wouldn't over-think it nor would I worry about separating my daughter from her father. They could talk on the phone, David could visit her in Louisiana and Liz could come back for a weekend once in a while or even for two weeks during the holidays. We'd talk and figure something out. But for that to happen, I had to stay in good terms with David. And Eric sure needed to calm himself and not act upon those little bruises.

"Eric, listen to me: it doesn't matter. I'm leaving with you and I don't care about him anymore. I know he's Lizzie's dad and I'll allow him to be with her whenever they want. But that's it. I have to think about me too and about what I want. And I want to be with you. I've always wanted to be with you. I love you."

Okay. So I had said it. It was out there again. The "L-word". But even when he didn't tell me that he loved me back, I didn't regret my words. I loved him. And God be damned if I'd prevent myself from saying it. In that same second, I vowed to myself that from then on, I'd always say what I was thinking. I didn't want any more misunderstandings between Eric and I. Hell, you never knew when some other fantastic and probably real but bad and dangerous fairytale creature would come back to hunt and hurt you (dragons, evil spirits and ogres came to mind – I didn't think they were real, but then again, they could). Right?

That night, after we decided that we'd live at his place in Shreveport, I felt asleep in Eric's arms.

The next day I let Liz go to school (and I had three of the four bodyguards following her) and I called David and asked him to meet me at home. He sounded a little off-key but it was expected considering the fact that Eric had glamoured him to stay at home and hadn't given him any other command.

Less than fifteen minutes later, an almost breathless David was arguing with my bodyguard next to my front door. I opened it and explained to the guard that he was my ex-husband and that he was allowed inside.

The door wasn't closed yet when David turned to me and asked, "What happened? What happened? Are you okay? Where's Liz?"

"Are _you_ okay?" I asked instead of answering him.

He sat on the couch and turned to me with a lost expression on his face: "I… I… I guess I am. I don't really… I don't really know. I was here and those tall guys somehow materialized out of thin air and…" He wasn't sure about it and was waiting for my confirmation. When I nodded at him, he repeated his previous questions: "What happened? Are you okay? Where's Lizzie? Where is she?"

"She's at school. She's alright. And so am I."

"What happened?" he insisted.

"What do you remember?"

"We were arguing in the kitchen," he said, and I saw him moving his eyes away from me in shame – David could well remember what as asshole he had been with me. He swallowed and looked back at me, "And I'm sorry for that Sook. I guess I wasn't…"

I interrupted him. I didn't care about what had happened in the kitchen. "What else?"

"Those guys showed up and I… I just remember that I was afraid for you and Liz and myself. And then I don't remember anything else. What happened? Why the new furniture? You sure both you and Liz are okay?"

"We are." He seemed to relax at my answer and then we just kept staring at each other for a minute or two. And I wondered all over again what I had seen in him before. But either way, David deserved to know everything and I started to tell him. "They were fairies David. And they attacked us. They wanted to kill me and Liz because we're Niall's kin," I saw his pupils grow with my words and his hands close in a fist but I kept talking, "and they had already killed John and Brad. We tried to fight them, but then you somehow froze. I think you were in shock or something."

"I…" he had this elbows on his knees now and his head was supported with his hands. He kept moving his head from right to left in a "no" gesture.

"But thank God Eric then showed up and he managed to keep us safe."

He raised his head to look at me and said: "That guy? The vampire _friend_?"

He said "friend" with the same disdain that he had used on Wednesday and I snapped. And you might not know me, but believe me when I say that I was never one to use curse words. But I sure knew them. And I wasn't shy to use them when I needed to either.

"Oh no, David, no, no, no. Don't you _dare _use that fucking tone when you're talking about Eric. Don't you even fucking dare. He risked his life for me and for your daughter while you stayed shaking in fucking fear. And I won't allow you the same shitty comments about how vampires aren't capable of having human friends because Eric sure proved himself all over again," I took a deep breath and I continued, "He was my friend a decade ago when I left him without an explanation. A few years later he saved me, he fucking saved me during the Fae War. He went through shit back then for me and he even made his vampires fight for me too," David was still looking at me in silence when I finally added, "but then he let me be, so I'd say with you. And you cheated on me. You fucking cheated on me. And now, Eric's back here saving my sorry ass again and saving your daughter too while you fucking freeze in fear. So don't you fucking dare to even insinuate that Eric is not my friend."

"I… I… I don't know what to say," he whispered.

Oh. Good. At least my full-of-profanities little speech did its job. "But I do. And here's what I want to say: I'm leaving David. I'm leaving you."

"I know that. I've already moved back to the apartment."

"That's not what I meant. I'm leaving to Louisiana."

"And Liz?"

"She's coming with me."

"But I'm… I'm her father. You can't just leave like that."

"I can and I will," I said extremely full of myself. Jesus, if I could bottle this assurance and use it when I needed, I'd be a happy woman.

"But…"

"It's my life."

"But I'm her father."

"Of course you are. And you can talk to her on the phone every day and you can visit her whenever you want. And Liz can come here once in a while for a long weekend and sometimes during the holidays. But I've already decided David. I'm leaving to Louisiana with my daughter."

"And the restaurant?"

"We still have to wait a couple more months before we our divorce is official. We'll decide then."

He thought for a minute or two while we stayed in silence. "Maybe we can put it in Lizzie's name and I'll just keep managing it until she's an adult or even after that if she doesn't want to work there. But it will be hers," he suggested.

Oh. That sounded good. I liked the idea of Liz having something of her own. But David had another son. And it didn't matter how much I hated his mother and how I almost hated his father, the baby boy shouldn't be deprived from his rights. "But what about your son?"

"Brown's Rest and Grill is yours and mine. You worked there as much as I did, and Lizzie's our daughter. Besides, Dave already has a college fund that the pack created for him and I pay his mother child support every month."

"Oh. Okay then. We can still talk about it later. And you can obviously move here again if you want once I leave."

"I don't. Let's sell the place, pay what's owed to the bank and divide the rest of the money between us."

Wow. I was impressed. David was behaving like… an adult. Which was what he was, but still… It was_ so_ strange to have a mature conversation with David about our divorce and about me moving away after last Wednesday.

"Okay. We can do that. And I'll start packing today because I want to move as soon as possible David."

"I understand. And…" he thought about what he wanted to say for a minute and then he added, "I'm sorry Sook. For how I behaved and for not keeping my family safe. I should never have taken the guards away and I should have been able to fight for you and Liz… I… I'm sorry for all of it Sook."

"It's okay David."

"I hope we'll somehow stay friends."

"With time, I'm sure we will." And I really believed and hoped that. David and I would always be connected because of Liz. We'd have to talk and be together many times because of her. He was her father and he was a _good_ father.

"I'll want to see her as often as possible. I'll visit you guys frequently and I want Liz to come here too."

"Of course."

"And I'll call every night right before bed time."

"Okay."

"Okay. I… I'll just go now. Bye Sook. Oh, and can I keep Liz this weekend? I know it's your weekend but I want to spend some time with her before you leave," I nodded and he almost smiled at me, "'I'll come and pick her tomorrow morning then. And Sook… good luck in Louisiana."

We awkwardly kissed each other briefly and he left.

I sat again and I just thought about our conversation. About our _adult_ conversation. And then I smiled because I was moving to Louisiana. With Eric. I spent the rest of the day packing books and some summer clothes in the boxes I had found out in our garage.

Later that day, I picked Liz at her swimming class and I let her choose our dinner. After we ate the (obviously) pizza, I sat with her and explained that we'd be moving to the place where mommy had grown up when I was her age.

"And is it far?" she asked.

"Yes, it is baby."

"And school?"

"You'll have a new school full of new friends there."

She didn't sound convinced. Not at all. Her face told me that she thought this was a bad idea. "And will daddy be there with us?"

"No sweetheart. Daddy will stay here, because of the restaurant. But you'll speak to him every day on the phone and he'll be visiting us often."

"I don't want to go mom. I wanna stay here with daddy."

Oh damn. I didn't want to force her. But hell would freeze before I'd leave without my daughter. "You'll like it there baby. You'll have your own room just like here. And you know what? Eric has a big garden and we can buy one of those small swimming pools and set it there. So you'd have a pool just for you and you'd be able to swim everyday and just play there whenever you'd want to."

Her eyes opened a bit more. She always did that when she was impressed with something. Yes, the little pre-fabricated pool in the garden would be a very good way to convince her. "A pool?"

I nodded and smiled at her: "Just for you."

"In Eric's garden? Will he be there?" she asked opening her eyes a little bit more. Yes, Eric would be another first-class persuasion element.

"You know that he's mommy's friend, don't you? And you know that mommy and Eric were friends way before you were born, right?" she nodded, and I added, "Well, that's because Eric used to live right next to the place where mommy grew up." Not that Shreveport was _that_ close to Bon Temps. And I was _definitively_ all grown-up when I met Eric. But I was meaning that both places were in Louisiana. And Liz sure looked like a little more convinced about this "moving to Louisiana" idea. I added a new important point: "You know something else? It's also close to where Uncle Jason and Tom and Alex still live." Tom and Alex were Jason's sons (from two different mothers) and they too would be a good reason for moving to Louisiana.

"Will they swim in my pool?"

Okay. So the still non-existent pool was hers already. "Only if you want them to. It's _your_ pool."

She smiled in a very sweet way and whispered: "Cool." And just like that she accepted everything. And I couldn't help myself from hugging her very close to me. "Mom! You're crushing me!" Elizabeth, always exaggerating.

"Sorry. It's just that I love you very much. You know that, right?"

"Yeah mom, you're always saying that," she said with an exasperated sight, "and I love you too mommy," she added with a boring-air about that whole conversation, "Now, can I please go upstairs and play? Just for a little while?"

I would be her bed time soon but I told her that she could and she left talking to herself about the pool. Well, not really to herself… She left talking to _Frank_ about the pool and telling him that she'd only allow him there if he behaved himself. And who was Frank? He was a dark-haired boy who was Lizzie's most recent imaginary friend.

I was still thinking about my silly and adorable daughter when Eric arrived. I told him about my talk to David that morning and my conversation with Liz that evening too. He was slightly angry that I had talked to David alone, but he was much happier than angry because everything had gone well and I had already started packing everything.

"What about kitchen's appliances? Do you have any?"

"I don't, but we can buy everything there."

"Maybe I can take with me some of the things I have here and…"

"No," he interrupted me, "we'll buy everything new there."

And suddenly, I remembered, "Oh, and Eric, would you mind if we bought one of those above-ground pre-fabricated little swimming pools for your garden?"

"Why would we?"

"Liz has wanted one for ages and I thought that it would be easier to convince her about Louisiana with it."

"So you were buying your daughter's acceptance with a pool?"

Yes, I was. "No... I'm just… willing to give her an extra incentive," I answered smiling.

He smiled back at me and after his smiling "okay", I asked again if he minded that we bought the pool.

"No need my lover. I already have an outdoor pool. And it's not above-ground. It's a real pool. Elizabeth will love it."

"You have?"

"Yes, and the little dear one will only have to dress into her swimming clothes before immerging herself in the swimming pool, as soon as we arrive at our home."

Little _dear_ one. _Our _home. Awww.

I silently thanked God for bringing Eric to my life again and then I silently prayed that no one else would come into the middle of the two of us. But somehow, and don't ask me why, I felt that we'd still have to face some problems. And turns out, it was an accurate feeling.

* * *

**So? What did you think about it? I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And the next one will be a Pam's POV for sure! Thank you again, Célia**

"**It's My Life" (album Crush) is definitively one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs. It has the distinction of being the only song from a band once classified as 1980s hair metal to reach the top 40 in the 21st century, a testament to how the song managed to introduce the band to a new, younger fan base. "**_**It's my life / It's now or never / I ain't gonna live forever / I just want to live while I'm alive / (It's my life) / My heart is like an open highway /Like Frankie said / I did it my way / I just wanna live while I'm alive / It's my life"**_


	27. Welcome to the Good Times

**Hi! My first idea was to end the story with this chapter (hence its title). But because the feedback I've been getting is much more that I had antecipated, I felt bold enough to put in that little "twist" at the end and add a few more chapters to this story. I hope you won't mind! :)**

**Anyway, here you have it: another Pam's POV. As I've said in the past, I find it difficult to speak through Pam's voice. So please review and tell me if you thought this was character-like – I'd hate to misrepresent her because Pam is definitively one of my favorites character! And the disclaimer is the same: these are Ms C. Harris' characters, not mine. Enjoy the chapter, Célia**

* * *

**Pam "Welcome to the Good Times"**

It had been almost a year since Sookie had came back to Louisiana and everything had changed. And _Sookie_ had changed too.

An example? There was this night when Eric was giving me a bad time because I had been dating and fucking a 17-year-old girl for the past couple of weeks. He was saying how I could have serious problems because she was underage. And I... Well, I knew that he was right. But com'on. Carrie was just less than a month away from her 18th birthday, and _she_ had been the one to come after me. She had practically thrown herself (and almost naked!) at me. And then, suddenly, and I didn't know how or why, I found myself screaming at Eric that he had nothing to do with who I bedded. "Your own sexual partners have been pretty strange for the last decade. You've even fucked me, remember?"

Sookie's gasp stopped our discussion and I felt terrible that she had found out about me and Eric. But I was just so mad at Eric… And I had just wanted to shut him up. I had never thought that Sookie would hear us. Besides, Eric and I… It had just been something physical. Nothing more. Just "bang-bang; orgasm; you're done". We were way past something sexual between us. We were so much more than that.

Eric immediately ran to her, grabbed her hands and started talking: "Sookie, lover, let me expla…"

"No," she interrupted him, taking her hands from his, "there's no need. What you did back then doesn't concern me," she added. But her voice didn't sound as secure as her words. And then she crossed her arms at her chest. Uh-oh. That was some _bad_ body language!

"Sookie, I'm sorry," I managed to say.

She left Eric's side, uncrossed her arms and moved towards me: "Are… Do you… Do you want Eric like that again?" she almost whispered. It didn't matter that she had said the minute before that what we had done didn't concern her – she was as deeply worried about it as you could get.

"I don't," I answered her, "I love him, but we are not a couple. He's my maker and my best friend. And that's it. He was missing you and I gave him some comfort. That's all."

"You sure?"

"I am," and then I repeated my previous statement, "Eric's my maker and my best friend, but nothing more."

And as soon as I spoke my words, I saw her smile just a little bit and Eric started smiling as well. I could feel such relief from him through our maker-child bond…

"All right," Sookie said, "so there won't be any more talk about this matter." She moved her head from between me and Eric and then she added: "I'll deal with it on my own. We're all adults here. You guys had sex. You had had sex before too and it hadn't matter to me." She paused for a few seconds and then asked, almost as an after-thought: "You won't have sex again now, will you?"

"No." Both Eric and I answered at the same time and with the same certainty.

So, she just smiled at our answer and we hadn't talked about that ever since. I'm not sure if Sookie and Eric talked about it between them, but I'd say that they hadn't.

And on that same night I ended my "thing" with Carrie. But just until a month later when she became 18 and we then started dating again. However, it only lasted for a couple of months because Carrie was way too jealous and she didn't like when I drank from other women. But it was an easy fix: just an effortless glamour for her to leave me the hell alone and off she went never to be seen in my bars again.

Yes, it had been almost a year since Sookie had came back to Louisiana and everything had changed. And Sookie had obviously changed too. She was perceptibly more mature and she hardly ever freaked like before. Back then, she'd probably leave again if she had found out about me and Eric. But now, she understood that some things were important enough to fight over them. And others just… weren't. And sex between me and Eric? It just didn't matter. Yes, Sookie understood that now. She really _was_ different from before.

And Eric was different too. It was like he was… well… happy. Don't get me wrong: Eric had always had a great _joi de vivre_, he had always met people, went to places, did crazy things… But now it was more than that. He was not just having a nice time in a great place. It was really more than that. Now he really _was_ happy. He was _always_ happy. All the time. And it was strange. It was a good thing, for sure, but it was definitely strange. And odd.

I mean: I had known the guy for more than 200 years and I swear that I had seen more smiles that year than on all others combined. And when I said smile, it was not the "I'm so going to kill/fuck you" smile, neither the "I have to kiss your ass so I am smiling" smile. It was the "I can't prevent my lips from smiling because I'm so freakishly happy" smile.

Like I said: strange. And odd.

-x-

When Sookie had left 11 years ago, Eric had freaked out. After he came back from Europe, he calmed down. Then there was the whole fairy war and he ran to save her in hopes that they would be together again. But she was pregnant and Eric freaked again. A little quicker and lighter "freakishness" but a "freakishness" nonetheless.

And then he seemed to be Eric again. But I knew better. And how I teased him! It was great. He'd always answer something like "I'm beyond Sookie". But it was a lie. I told you: I've known the guy for 200+ years.

Either way, he was recovering (kind of) and was focused again on his work and his fan base (he _always_ had the prettiest girls _always_ at his feet. Arght!) But then that fucking fairy-vamp Gilbert told Eric that the fucking full-fairies were up to no good again. And, as before, off he went running to see Sookie… _again_. He met her, they talked (and obviously fucked) and, strangely, he came back home without her for a second time.

Back then, I wondered why he hadn't stayed there. I had talked to Sookie on the phone and she had told me that she and Eric had gotten along well _and_ that she and the bear were already separated (and they had been so for over half a year even though she hadn't told me about it). But hey… Who was I to talk about it? I had never really understood the whole Sookie&Eric dynamics… How had they _both _been so into each other after just a week together? And don't tell me it was the blood bond, because the fucking blood bond had been broken for over a decade and they were _still_ completely caught up with each other. Again: they _both_ were. But they talked between them and they must have thought that it would be better if he came back to Louisiana again – and so he did.

And then, they just kept talking on the phone for a while. And let me tell you: Eric sounded like a freaking thirteen year-old girl talking with her junior-high girl friend, or rather, her "BFF", as teens say today. Jesus!

Anyway, after two or three weeks, and for some unknown reason, he just suddenly decided she wasn't well protected or some shit like that and he decided to go back to Tennessee again. Tennessee! It's just as Louisiana. Why wouldn't she run to New York or California instead? Or Europe… She could have run away to Rome or Vienna. I'd definitively run to Europe if I'd ever had to run.

Well, either way, he went back there. I mocked and I told him he had work here (we were opening the first Deadliest franchise by then and the Arkansas' construction permits for our first Fangtasia there were turning out to be a nightmare), but he just didn't care. He was Batman or The Hulk. He was Captain America or fucking Robin Hood. He was whatever comic book hero who runs to save the lady. Hey… just a thought: maybe the one who saves the princess in distress is just a regular prince charming and not a Marvel comic hero? Can it be? Well, it doesn't matter. The truth is that off he went to Tennessee (while Pam here kept working like a slave).

A few weeks later, I felt his bloodlust amazingly high and I called him. As usual, he didn't pick up the phone right then but after a while he send me something like "It's all over, I'm okay" though our maker-child bond.

Four or five hours later, he called me back and told me about killing five fairies for Sookie. Okay. Nothing new there. Sookie being in trouble? Happened before. Someone tried to kill Sookie? Happened before too. Eric killed that someone to protect her? Happened before as well.

But the next night however, something _new_ happened. Apparently, Sookie appreciated (for the first time ever) what Eric did for her. And my only thought was: "_wow!"_ But it wasn't just that: she actually told him she wanted to come back to Louisiana. With him. But wait, there was more: she would also bring her kid and the three of them would play fucking house together at Eric's. My jaw dropped in awe. Big time. I was completely shocked. I was like: WTF? Eric? Playing house? With a half were child? And Sookie would never let him feed or fuck any other. Had he even considered that? Was he willing to? I couldn't fucking believe that my badass motherfucker maker wanted that kind of fucking "white picket fence" bullshit life. But he did.

And you know what? It actually suited him! And everything had been working just fine for the last year.

They had been living together with Elizabeth at Eric's. But the house was much different now: totally new furniture (kids' safe furniture), human food in the fridge, a usable kitchen, a toy room and a slide (yes, I swear, there was a fucking colorful slide) in Eric's garden. And I just have this to say: thank God Eric's planned housing community didn't allow the building of picket-fences (including _white_ picket-fences). Because if they ever built one (and I'm really not sure that they wouldn't have, given the chance), I'd definitively run away (to Rome or Vienna) and I'd feel myself an orphan vampire.

Anyway, Eric was also back to work full force. The Area 5 issues were very few now (Eric had been the Sheriff there for over 20 years now) but the bars franchise still took a lot of time (and made us a lot of money). And Eric had been traveling a lot for the past year. He usually spent at least one or two nights a week outside our area visiting our franchised bars.

The thing was: without Eric and other really old-timers, the franchised bars were only bars that looked like Bloodbath or Fangtasia or Deadliest. So Eric had to visit them quite often and he had to make sure other old vamps did it as well. You know: authenticity! But Eric was always complaining that he traveled too much… However, Sookie was on my side in this matter. And she was always telling him that they had to spend a couple of nights a week apart so they would miss each other.

Jesus! It was cheesy. It was _hard-core_ cheesy. It was cheesy as never-before-seen-cheesy. And I knew it. This was such a great teasing material… But I always shut up because that was the reason why he kept traveling and making us the big bucks.

Anyway, for the pat year, Sookie had also been helping us with the bars, mainly with the human staff. For some unknown reason, they were _still_ afraid of me and Eric (would they ever stop fearing us?) and so she helped us dealing with them. Besides, there was also her telepathy: and it was still handy to know what other people were thinking. You know what I'm saying?

And then, there was the child. Elizabeth. And she was un-fucking-believable. Liz was absolutely great. She had one problem: the faintest were smell. But you just had to spend five minutes with her to forget all about the were smell and just focus on the kid. Lizzie was funny (hell, she was hilarious), gorgeous and super intelligent. And you know what was one of the best things about her? She was only six years old now but she was already teasing Eric almost as well as I did. And I had had _decades_ to learn how to do that! And the best part was that_ she_ was also the ultimate teaser because Eric melted whenever she wanted. She just had to kiss his cheek or give him any awful drawing (that she had done in like two minutes) and he was putty in her hands!

You don't believe me? Well, let me just tell you this: last Halloween, Eric dressed as a... ta-dah!... banana. Yes, I said correctly. A banana. He went "trick or treating" with her (Lizzie was dressed as a strawberry), in a banana costume. A fucking banana. Of course, he didn't allow anyone to see him like that, just Liz, Sookie, me and the humans whose houses they went. But I got a picture. And I stored it and I kept it like people keep water in the desert. A banana. A fucking banana! Can you believe it? Hah! Hah!

And you know what else about Liz? She loved to shop and try new clothes. Unlike Eric and unlike Sookie. And so it has been "our thing", mine and Lizzie's, for the last year, to go to the mall to buy clothes. And we usually also bought stuff for Sookie and Eric. And it was much easier to make them dress in something that I bought with Liz than something I bought just by myself.

So: Sookie was back and she had Lizzie, Eric was finally happy and I was making lots of cash with the bars' franchising. Everything changed. But those changes were for the better and everything was all right now.

There was just one problem. Once or twice a month, David would come to Shreveport to spend the weekend with Liz. And whenever he was around, Sookie would get mad and Eric would be tense, or maybe he would get mad and she'd be tense or… hell, whatever, they'd both become mad and tense. But he was Elizabeth's father and it was a good thing that he visited her often because the kid really liked him.

But the worst time? It had been the four weeks Lizzie spent in Tennessee last summer. Both Sookie and Eric were just out of their minds, always worrying about Lizzie. But as the great kid she was, she behaved and there was no problem. Lizzie was already scheduled to visit her dad soon again. I hope Sookie will stay calmer this time.

And, at any rate, the "one pair of eyes" that Eric kept on David (he received a once-a-month report about the bear's doings, both regarding his restaurant and his pack) just turned into three or four around the clock (but extremely discreet) bodyguards checking Lizzie whenever she was with her father. I didn't know why, but Eric really didn't trust him. Not even the guy's own daughter. Something had definitively happened there (it was as if Eric was afraid he'd hurt Elizabeth or something…), but I never commented on the subject. And especially because Sookie didn't know about it.

-x-

I was in my office in Bloodlust, waiting for Eric, and in front of a mirror experimenting the possible new shorts and t-shirts of the Summer line of Fangtasia products (we had been using the brand recently in lots of merchandising products and so far it was a success). But I didn't like it. They were too red. And yes, people dressed in red, but not all that "blood red" in their everyday clothes. We'd have to change the color, or, at least, change it to a darker red. But the cut was good and the way the back pockets of the shorts were made, would favor most butts. And the hats were cool too. They'd sell well. We'd have to go into foot-wear too. Maybe even a partnership with Nike, Reebok or Adidas? They could have a Fangtasia/Bloodbath line…

I made a note in my PC to remind me to check that possibility later and then I changed back to my normal clothes and got back to work. In the last few years, I had moved from being the manager of one bar, to being responsible for two really successful brands (and Deadliest would soon be a third), and it meant much more work. But the money was much more too, so I didn't mind. Thank God for capitalism and vampire rights in America.

Besides, we now had a manager in each bar, and both Eric and Sookie worked hard too. So yeah, everything was good in the work area. Now, I just needed someone I could share my success with. Someone special.

Well, of course I was dating people (I had even dated a beautiful were-swan – Helen had such a lovely hair and a great pair of legs). But I hardly ever managed to stay for more than a couple of months with each person. Three or four months at most. However, I'd wait. And eventually the right person would show up. Hell, it had taken Eric more than a thousand years to find Sookie, so I knew that I had to be patient. And, for the time being, I was happy just concentrating on my work and my bars.

I had just started to work on the previous month's numbers when I felt that Eric was almost there. And so I printed the budget that I had just received on my e-mail for our original Bloodlust and Fangtasia's parking lots, kitchens and bathrooms' renovation. It was way more than we had expected to spend and I wanted him to approve it. Both Eric and I had completely autonomy with everything regarding the bars. But whenever such an expense was needed, we both usually checked with the other.

"Guess what? Guess what?" he said as soon as he got inside my office. Eric. He was just like a kid these days. And it was all Elizabeth's influence… _She_ was the one who used to say "guess what? guess what?" and now _he_ was mimicking a 6-years-old.

"What?"

"Ocella's coming to visit. He called me and said that he's coming in three weeks, on the 12th. And it's great."

"It is?" I knew Eric liked his maker. Absolutely every vampire that loves being a vampire likes his or her maker as well because they were the ones who gave them the vampiric gift. But after 400 hundred years together on and off, they both preferred to spend time apart, except for quick visits once in a while (like every four or five decades). And I also knew that Eric much rather be the one _visiting_ than the one _being visited_. And besides, I was also sure that even though now, seven or eight hundred years after Ocella's attitude-change towards Eric, he and his maker got along okay, deep down, Eric would never forgive Appius for his first couple of centuries as a vampire.

"Well, it's not great that he's coming. I actually hate the fact that he' coming and he wouldn't even get more than 500 miles close to Shreveport if I had a saying on it. But I don't. And he wants to visit me. And so he will. And if he has to come here, if he must, then he chose the best time. Lizzie will be in Tennessee with her father then. She won't even have to meet Ocella. And he said he's just staying for a week."

Eric, always the pragmatic. "And why is he coming here? Why now?" I asked.

"He's meeting Adelaide in Canada and he decided to travel through here." Adelaide was Ocella's "baby sister". And by "baby sister", I meant: she was more or less 1200 years old.

Adelaide was great. And again I wondered how was Ocella's maker able to turn two people as different as Ocella (always an egoistic bastard) and Adelaide (such a caring and devoted vampire). Adelaide had been married to an Iberic count, Vimara Peres, who had reconquered and governed what is now the north of Portugal from the Islamic Moors from North Africa. She was first seen by her maker on the same night that Portugal gained _de facto_ independence from the Leonesse reign (what is now Spain) for the first time. It would take Adelaide, her husband and the fellow supporters of independence several other attempts and feudal struggles before they were completely separated from the Kingdom of Galicia. But they did it. And Adelaide had been right in the middle of everything, first as a human (the wife of a prominent man) and then as a vampire. She had, in fact, helped to create a whole new country. Wasn't it awesome? I just loved her stories.

But, back to the present. So, Eric was telling me how Ocella would be visiting Adelaide. But that he had also decided that he'd just travel from Lisbon to Vancouver trough Shreveport and meet us too. Okay. So that didn't sound like a _forced_ meeting. Not_ at all_. Louisiana was _obviously_ in the way between Europe and Canada… Hell! What a stupid explanation. Okay, so Ocella wanted to visit. He was Eric's maker – he just had to say that he _did_ want to visit. He didn't have to say that stupid and totally unbelievable explanation.

Jeez. Would Eric never be free from this _frecko_? But Eric was reacting somewhat well to this news… Why would that be?

"So, it's okay then? That Ocella's visiting?"

"It is not okay. I'd rather that he would not. I actually hate that he's coming. But I like that Lizzie is not here."

"What about Sookie?"

"Ocella will want to meet the bars and my friends. And someone will talk or ask about Sookie. If my human companion isn't here, then he'll wonder why that was, and he'll want to meet her. It's easier if she's on plain sight and if he meets her right away. Then he won't be curious about her."

"Ohh…" Of course. That actually made total sense. Sookie worked at the bars too and everyone now knew how Eric just drank from Sookie and that he was now off-limits to all fangbangers (and this was especially known and grieved over by the female gender). Ocella would see, for sure, that something was amiss… And Eric was obviously correct: his maker's curiosity would rise after that. But keeping Sookie "hidden on plain sight" might do the trick and keep Ocella's interest in Sookie just marginal. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am right. I know that Lizzie will be away and he won't even know about her. But, on the other hand, I wouldn't be able to do the same about my _exclusive_ human. And so, I won't even talk about Liz to Ocella. But he will have to meet Sookie. So, I'll just introduce her to him and then keep Sookie as under the radar as I can."

Yeah. This sounded more like Eric. He had always been practical if nothing else. And he'd, of course, stop fretting. To Eric, things he couldn't fix were really never a problem. And instead he'd always think of those that he could fix. And Ocella was coming – and Eric couldn't do anything about it. Now, he was only reacting to it the best way he could.

But Eric's pragmatism, however, didn't mean that he didn't have a back-up plan. Eric _always_ had a back-up plan, even in situations when most people wouldn't even think about having a first plan – let alone a back-up one. Yes, Eric was always two steps ahead of everyone. And the fact that he would try to hide Liz and Sookie (I heard Eric's voice _"keep Sookie as under the radar as I can"_ all over again in my mind), well, it bothered me.

"Why? Are you expecting trouble?" I asked.

"Pam, it's Ocella." He answered me.

Not "yes, I do". Not "no, I don't". Just "it's Ocella".

But the problem was: Ocella meant trouble.

* * *

**I know, I know… We all hate Ocella. And that's why I'm bringing him back – so eventually Eric will be free from him. Anyway, what did you think about this new acquisition to the story? And Pam and Eric's interaction? And the time-jump? I had to at least give them some time before bringing Ocella back, right? And how would you rather Ocella react to Sookie? Will he like her (more like Godric) or hate her (in true Ocella's form)? Or something in between?**

**"Welcome to the Good Times" in an outtake from Bon Jovi's "Crush" album. _"I'm always the one on the outside looking inside / __Always the bridesmaid, never been the new bride / __Sometimes I feel like a canary in a coal mine / __It's hard to breathe but somehow it's got to stay in flight / __Waiting for the dice to roll our way / __We've been waiting for someone somewhere to say / / __Hey, welcome, welcome to the good times"_**


	28. Say It Isn't So

**Hello! I finally got in the mail my "Dead Reckoning" – no bookstore here in Portugal had it yet, so I bought it online. This next weekend will be a "reading weekend" for sure. Anyway, here's chapter 28. I hope you'll like it – there're some lemons ahead. And please drop me a line if you can. Thank you. Célia**

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**Sookie "Say It Isn't So"**

Eric was great. Yes, he was sometimes obnoxious, high-handed and stubborn, but he was also caring, funny and loving with me and my daughter. Yes, we had problems and discussions but we always managed to make up before either of us went to sleep (which was sometimes hard because we had almost opposite sleeping patterns, but we managed it), and it usually also included some make-up sex, which was great as well. Well, better than great actually. It was more like an "oh-my-God-it's-so-good-I-can't-stand-it" kind of great.

And I was always giving thanks for having him in my life since the year before… and in our bed too.

"I'm back," he said one night when he arrived and entered our room after spending two nights away because of his bars, "and I must have you _right now_! I'm so hard I can't stand it. It's painful Sookie. I _really _need you at this very moment." And then he grinned fangily.

I raised my head to glance at him. Eric looked, as always, immensely tall, extremely handsome and incredibly sexy. He was dressed in dark blue jeans, and a dark blue coat, which he quickly took off. His white with light-blue lines shirt seemed like tailor made because it made him even more attractive than usual. Jesus! Eric was the paradigm of good-looks. He truly looked like a perfect god from the Greek or Roman mythology, especially when he used his hair over his shoulders like that evening and not in a braid or pony-tail as usual.

It was past 11 pm and I was already in our bed, reading my novel. And if he wanted me, then by God, he'd have me because I really wanted him as well.

"Then cut to the chase my lover," I answered him smiling. It always sounded strange when I was the one calling him lover. He was usually just "Eric" and I was the "lover". But sometimes, I teased him this way and it felt great.

With a movement too fast for me to follow, Eric's shirt was off, and while I was admiring the view, his other clothes followed. He had his fangs already out. He next took my pajamas' pants and underwear off as well before he laid on top of me. Eric's weight felt great and I just kept hugging him while we kissed for a few minutes. Suddenly, I felt him rub me and I moaned. And, as usual, Eric knew what my sounds meant because he immediately entered me and we both cried out in pleasure.

Whenever he was away for a couple of nights, our reunion was always quick and rough. And so, soon he was thrusting into me harder each time. I just felt him grabbing me, teasing me and entering me and all of a sudden I came hard and he was right here with me. Jesus Christ! I'd never get used to an Eric-induced orgasm. Yes, he was _that_ good.

Once we were both still, I let go of his butt and brought my hands up to his back to hold him. He continued kissing my cheeks and my mouth while I caught my breath. His kisses in due course moved to my neck and I felt him licking it. He had bitten me and I hadn't even noticed it. Wow! I guess I was so into my orgasm that everything else had faded away. Even Eric's fangs.

Eventually, he asked me to take my pajamas' top off, which I quickly did, and then we moved so we could better snuggle for a while in silence. I had my leg over him and my head onto his chest. He had this manly and dry vampire smell and I loved to stay just like that: hugging him and enjoying the quiet and stillness. And I thought all over again what a blessing was the fact that I couldn't hear his thoughts. Yes, hugging him while enjoying the calm and tranquility of after-sex was the best. But this time, contrarily to what's our norm, it was Eric who broke the silence: "How's Liz?"

Lizzie was at her father's since the day before. "She's alright. She called today. David bought her pink rollerblades and she's crazy about it. She already has a bruise on her knee because she fell a couple of times. But David said she's managing it already. Liz also told me that she had lunch with her cousins today. She's happy to be back there."

"That's good," he said. The way Eric always worried about Liz made me so proud of him. He was this badass vampire to everyone else, but he was such a softy with us.

"How were the bars?" I asked.

"Busy, lousy and boring."

"Don't be like that Eric!" He was always complaining how he didn't like to travel that much and that all the problems with the bars were just a huge head-ache (not a _physical_ head-ache, obviously, because he was a vampire, but rather a never-ending stream of problems). But I knew that he would hate it much more if he wasn't busy with work. Yeah, I knew he loved his bars and he loved the way everyone looked up to him and depended on him with anything bar-related. He was just complaining because… well, because he was a guy. And double-nature or not, dead or alive, 1000-years old or less, men would always be men.

"It's true," he said, running his hand up and down my leg, "and besides, yesterday I saw this very good looking blond girl, with a great tan, and what would probably be lovely tits, and she reminded me of my wife. My cock was instantly rock hard. Since then, all I thought about was to come back home to fuck you until you couldn't walk straight."

"Eric!" I said and kind of playfully slapped his arm. He was always somewhat graphic and explicit when he talked about sex. I sometimes wondered what had made him like that. Was it some kind of "Vikings' way"? Or was it because he had experimented so much sexually that everything was just normal to him? Or perhaps it had been the "peace and love" from the sixties and seventies? All that free love speech? Either way, I wasn't like that. Well, of course I loved to have sex with Eric. Who wouldn't? But I'd never talk as freely as he did. And his words sometimes even turned me into a shy little girl. Well, a _horny_ shy little girl.

"What? What's the problem? The "I got hard because of a blond girl" part or the "my wife" part?" He asked me. I knew that he was pretending to be kidding and just teasing me. But I knew better: he was indirectly talking about our supposed marriage again. And that would never be a kidding or teasing subject to him.

When I had come back to Louisiana, we had both decided on a few rules: we'd be a couple, a real couple; we would be exclusive (but that didn't mean that I wasn't still friends with Sam and Bill, because I was, obviously; and that was something that Eric was not exactly thrilled about, but he _kind of_ accepted; Alcide though, was no longer a part of my life); and Eric would refrain from drinking from others besides me – I was supposed to ignore if he drank from others while away from me, and he was supposed to not bite anyone else when we were both in Shreveport, _especially_ good-looking girls.

And you see, I was the one "allowing" him this. And to tell you the truth, I was really proud of myself for being able to deal with it in a more mature way. Yes, feeding and fucking go hand-in-hand for vampires, and I can't say that it didn't bother me that he might be drinking from others. But I saw it as my way of showing Eric that I trusted him (and that I believed that even if he drank while away from Shreveport, I knew that he wouldn't have sex with anyone else). And either way, he was always saying that because he was over 1000 years old, he could go for quite a long time without feeding. And so, whenever he'd stay away just one or two nights because of his work, he'd usually refrain from drinking from others. Therefore, the trust I had given him was paying off, and even though he _could_ drink from others, he usually _didn't_. The only three or four exceptions had been when he was staying in Arkansas for almost a week – and neither he nor I had wanted him to feel any less strong for lack of feeding while in another state. And there were these other times, when he was in Shreveport, that for some reason, I wouldn't be feeling up for giving him my blood, or when Eric himself would not want to take my blood because he'd say that I hadn't replenish it enough yet… But even in those situations, Eric would only drink synthetic blood if he had too. He was always saying how everyone else tasted bland and insipid compared to me.

And believe me: you could totally see how he really didn't drink or have sex while away because… well, he'd ravish me thoroughly then... even more than usual… And I loved it.

But we still had some issues that we didn't agree on, namely, our marital status. My divorce from David was already official, and there was no way in hell that we'd be together again, not even for Liz. So I really felt like a divorcée. And I liked it. I felt free because of it. I was my own.

There had been a time in my life when I had thought that I wouldn't be anybody if I wasn't married and with a bunch of children. I had longed for an "ordinary life with an ordinary family". The whole "family with two point four kids, living in a two story house with a white picket fence, and the kissing the husband every morning while doing the knot in his tie and after making him breakfast and before he went to work" image, you know? But I didn't think that way anymore. Now that I was with Eric, Liz would be my only child. And with Eric's schedules we would never be like other families. For one, he didn't eat – so I'd never need to make his breakfast. And secondly, he wouldn't even be _alive_ at breakfast time. Not to mention that being a vampire Sheriff is not properly a 9 to 5 job that requires a suit and a tie. Yes, just the whole "only awake at night" aspect of him would always be an issue between us because I'd forever be a day-person. And besides, even if I didn't mind to keep his timetables, Lizzie's school and other activities would prevent me from doing that.

So, yeah, we both had to compromise. But we were alright now. Well, actually, better than alright. I was as happy as I had ever been. But we would never be a conventional couple or a typical family. We wouldn't. Not ever. And that was why I was still defending that we were just living together. But Eric was always saying that I was his wife in the only way that mattered to him and that the knife marriage was valid. And _that_ was one of the issues between us. I'd never see the act of handing him silverware as a valid marriage. No one other than the vampires would, right?

But besides the validity of our _supposed_ marriage, there was also our other huge white elephant: the blood-bond. Or rather: its absence. When we had come back to Louisiana, just after Niall closed the portals, Eric gave both me and Lizzie a couple of drops of his blood. We had both decided that it was better if he could find us if he needed… You know: just in case! But other than those drops a year ago, I hadn't drunk from Eric yet and there was absolutely no blood bond between us. I felt nothing and nobody. And nobody felt me either. Actually, not even Pam was feeling me anymore (I had drunk from her twice when I was pregnant). And I was happy about it. But more than that, I had completely decided that I'd never drink from any vampire ever again.

Yes, I knew that Eric wanted me to drink from him. He thought that I should smell like him all the time because I dealt with many supernaturals in his bars. But I wasn't so sure. And I definitely wasn't ready for a blood bond yet. Thankfully, Eric just talked about it once in a while and he never pressed the issue too much.

On the other hand, he _never_ talked about how he had actually broken the bond. However, after much insistence on my part, Pam had told me that really old vampires are strong enough to "will their blood away from humans". But she also said that it required lots of concentration and focus. And that the vampire had to be very deliberate about it – it was truly an intentional action. And apparently, Eric tried to do it by himself after I left. But not even _he_ was able to do it. So he had to drink his almost 2000-years old maker's blood to give him the strength enough to force his blood away from me. Jesus! The whole thing seemed too strange for me… I had been raised by a very devoted Christian lady and… well… this _really_ seemed way too bizarre for me. And I was really glad to be out of it.

"Did you do anything with the blonde girl?" I asked before I'd answer his question.

"No. I just saw her once and then I started fantasizing about you, about your tanned legs around my waist, and how hot and wet you would feel around my cock and all the devious things that I would do to you tonight." He told me hugging me closer. His hands had moved from my lower back to my butt and legs and I shivered. I couldn't see his face in the position we were, with my head in his chest, but I was willing to bet that there was a smirk in his face because he knew how excited his words and his touch would make me.

"Okay. Then my problem is with the wife part."

"You are so mean to me Sookie," he said with a teasing voice while grabbing my ass with both his hands and moving me on top of him before rolling us so _he_ would be on top. He was ready for our second round. And God, so was I.

"Oh, poor you!" I answered him smiling while I put my tanned legs around his waist, as he had said before.

As usual, this second time was much slower and intimate than the first. We had had sex, and now we were making love. He started by trailing his hand up my leg, and I could feel that his touch was firmer when he kissed me. When the kiss ended we locked our eyes and he murmured "I love you". And then… my heart probably skipped a beat.

This was the first time he was telling me that. I had been saying "I love you's" for a year now, but he hadn't ever answered me that. I had listened to a lot of "I'm very happy about it", several "likewise's" and even a couple of "me too's". I had heard "I love your legs", "I love your smell" and several other "loves" regarding other body parts or personality traits. But never an "I love you". Until that moment that is.

I whispered that I loved him too and we kissed again for a while until he leaned forward slightly, as his hand continued to slide further up my leg. I felt his agile fingers brush over me, and heard a low growl of appreciation rumble in his chest as he felt how ready I was for him. He exchanged his fingers for his cock and I felt him brush over me once more, as if he was hesitating, and then with the smoothest of moves, he slid into me.

A breathy moan escaped me as my head fell back. I heard a whispered, "perfect" come from him as he kept moving in and out of me and the heat of him filled me. Another strangled cry came from me as his thumb found my clit and I felt my hips buck in response. Jesus! I was feeling so much… His weight on top of me, his mouth and tongue kissing my lips and neck, his hand grabbing me, his thumb in the best place ever and his moves in and out of me…

"Look at me," he demanded in his always sexy voice. I opened my eyes and they found his and I was fixed by his stare. The dark-blue rim around the iris and the even mix of pale blue and white rays I knew so well were fixed into my eyes too. And suddenly, I lost my mind with the feeling of him moving inside me while his thumb was still tracing lazy circles over me. I couldn't think. I could only feel. Soon, however, his pace quickened and he was thrusting deep and harder into me. And just a moment later I was screaming as my orgasm tore through me. His fingers continued playing me, slowing down as I rode out the last waves of pleasure. As my spasms began to fade, Eric came inside me speaking in his old language, and even though I still couldn't understand anything of it, I treasured his words.

A few moments later, we moved and spooned and I heard him whispering over and over again that he loved me as I went to sleep like a baby, hugging my _kind of_ husband.

The next night we both decided that we should celebrate the fact that we were Lizzie-free and we went to have dinner out (I mean: I ate while he watched me and pretended to drink a True Blood – no matter the new "flavors" that had been developed on the last few years, Eric would never like its taste) and then we were supposed to go someplace to dance.

Dancing had always been one of my favorite pastimes. And going out to dance _with_ _Eric_ was even better. But I was missing Lizzie too much (and I guess Eric might be too), so we didn't go dancing afterwards. Our "Lizzie-free" celebration would probably be postponed until Lizzie came back. Yeah, I know… But my child was just 6-years old, and I was really missing her too much, so I'd never be a fun date in her absence. I'd much rather go out with Eric knowing that she was safe (and close by) in our home in Shreveport with Pam or even her babysitter.

And so, I asked Eric if we could go home instead of going dancing and that was what we did. An hour or so later, we were watching a program on TV about a vampire who wanted to run for mayor of NY when, all of a sudden, Eric had his hands on both sides of his head. He whimpered. I was suddenly worried about him, and really, really nervous. I had never seen Eric that way.

"Can you tell me what's wrong? Eric? Eric?" I asked sinking down to the floor beside him.

"Someone's coming. It's Ocella. He's making me painfully aware of his arrival. He's six days early. It's my maker Sookie."

His maker? Now? Eric had told me that his maker might be dropping by eventually. But nothing more. And how come Eric didn't look appalled with this immediate visit? _"He's six days early."_ So he _knew _that this maker-guy was coming to visit now. I wondered why I didn't.

Suddenly, Eric rose to his feet in less than a blink of an eye, and I heard him make a sound deep in his chest. His hands were in white fists. Not good. I, out of the blue, found myself huddled against the couch with Eric between me and the open door.

In a second, I realized that there was someone there.

Between Eric's legs, I could see a man, much seared and very muscular, with dark eyes and hair. He was short and he was wearing jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt. Behind him, was a boy of no more that 13 or 14 but I could hardly see his face. I froze, trying to _not _react.

"Ocella," Eric said.

"Eric, what a lovely house you have here. You look well. But tell me yourself how you are." The vampire said without a single tone of an accent. Actually he didn't sound as a non English-native-speaker either but he sure didn't sound British, Australian or from any side of America that I knew of. He just spoke perfect English. And Ocella…? What a strange name. I then realized that I had never asked Eric about his maker. And he hadn't told me about his maker either. Just that he might _eventually_ visit us. I wondered where this Ocella was from and how was his relationship with Eric. Like I said before, I only knew he had been the one helping Eric when he decided to break our blood bond after I left to Tennessee because _Pam_ had told me so. Uhmm… What would Ocella think about me? Would he know that I was… well… me?

"I am alright," Eric answered, "you?"

"We are fine," he said with his cold, accent less voice, "and who is your friend?"

Eric took a step forward to give me room while I rose to my feet. He was still between me and his maker. "This is Sookie Stackhouse," he finally said and then he looked at me for one second before focusing on his maker again.

Oh no. The way he had looked at me… Eric's blue eyes had almost _spoken_ to me. And they had told me everything I needed to know. Oh no. I wanted to scream at Eric "say it isn't so, say that we'll be okay, say that this isn't happening, say that we're still just us". But I didn't. Because here was no need. I knew. I just knew. His eyes had told me everything I needed to know. Eric would _have to_ answer all Ocella's questions, he'd _have_ _to_ do all his bidding and go _wherever_ he'd be told to go. Oh no. Oh no.

The old vampire's voice brought me back from my thoughts. "Child, do you have a pet now?"

Hearing Eric being called child was something really strange and totally unnecessary due to his more than 1000 years of age. Maybe it was because parents always see their descendants as children... Liz would always be a baby to me, that's for sure. Either way, thinking of Eric as a child was definitively strange. And then I recognized that I was focusing in the "child" part of Ocella's question. But what about the "pet" part? I was not a pet. I'd never be a pet. Did Eric considerer me a pet?

"No," Eric answered. And thank God for him and his word that said that I wasn't his pet. But… I _was_ something. Eric paused for a few seconds, before he continued: "She is…" But then he stopped again. And both I and Ocella stared at him. I guess we both wanted to hear what I was to Eric. I had really liked that he had said that I wasn't his pet. But… what was I? His friend? I thought I was much more than that. He used to call me his bonded but our bond had been broken for more than a decade… What was I then? Maybe his lover? "Sookie Stackhouse is my wife," Eric finally answered.

"Your wife?" The recently arrived vampire said. Oh-uh. Shit. His face was skeptical and disbelieving. Apparently, Ocella agreed with me against Eric: we weren't married. This time, though, I just shut the hell up.

Eric grabbed my hand and I was now at his side rather than behind him. "Yes, we are wed by a matrimonial knife."

Ocella looked at me from my face to my feet and then up again. I felt like I was being measured. And I guess I was. I was also meeting my… kind of… father-in-law? Jesus. What a situation.

Eric had told me that this Ocella character might be visiting us soon, but I had thought that we'd have time to talk about it before his possible visit. Eric hadn't seemed that keen on talking about him and I hadn't insisted either… And besides, Eric had said that his maker _might_ be visiting us (he had said _might_), not that there was already a date for said visit. And I had really thought that it wouldn't matter and that "the maker" might not come at all. Or maybe that he would come in like a decade or so – vampires always talked about years just like weeks… But unfortunately, I had been wrong. And… what now? What should I do? What would Eric do? Were they friends? Or not? And why did Eric always compartmentalized information? I knew that he had always been one to talk through the "need-to-know" kind of way. But the fact that this Ocella person was visiting us sure fell in that category, right? I should have known about it, shouldn't I?

Ocella's voice took me out of my thoughts when he said: "She's something else… fairy perhaps?" I was pretty impressed. Eric himself had only recognized it after he was told about my Fae lineage. Actually, the only vampire who had ever recognized that I was part fairy was Andre, Sophie-Ann's child. And that was just _after_ he had tasted my blood. No other vampire had ever knew I was part fairy just by looking at me… or smelling me… or whatever Ocella did to figure it out.

"She is. Sookie is 1/8th fairy," Eric answered him.

Ocella nodded and smiled before saying: "And her kin are strong, I can tell," he smiled again, "Eric, she is rare."

"I know. Please Ocella, sit," Eric said while sitting and bringing me to sit right at his side.

Eric's maker and the teenage looking boy sat in front of us. Ocella hadn't yet talked _to_ me. Just _about_ me. And _in front of_ me. And he intended to keep doing so. The other vamp kept quiet all the time.

"Does she live at your house?"

"You forget: she is my wife."

"I see," Ocella answered. And I almost giggled. "I see" was such an Eric's phrase. I wondered who of them had been the first to use it.

Then Eric tried to change the subject from me: "Where are you spending the day? You are both welcome here." And the operative word there was "tried". As in: Eric _tried_ to change the subject from me. But he didn't succeed.

"We have another place. So, Eric, she smells of you, obviously…"

"She is my wife," Eric said a third time.

"So you say. But she hasn't had your blood yet. Just a couple of drops…" Eric didn't reply. So Ocella continued: "I am wondering… why is that?"

"Sookie has had my blood several times, but it was a few years ago. So the bond's weaker now. But as you said Ocella, she has drunk recently a little bit."

"Is she the girl Eric?"

"She is."

I wondered for a second what girl was I but then they just started speaking in some language that I didn't even recognize. It didn't sound like Chinese, or German, or Spanish or anything at all. And it was not Eric's Old Norse either. It was something different. It sounded old. And by the face of the teenage-looking vampire, he didn't understand it either.

And so they kept talking, for at least 20 minutes. Ocella sounded really mad because of something. But what really petrified me was that Eric had this nervous air about him… Eric was never uneasy about anything… Whatever it was that Ocella was telling Eric to do or say was scaring Eric. And so it was scaring the hell out of me. And Ocella kept repeating the same words. Well, he kept repeating the same _sounds_, and I was guessing that they were words. And Eric kept answering him back. Eventually, Eric said something that shut up his maker. The older vampire just stayed there moving his glare between Eric and me.

Then, all of a sudden, Ocella said, again in English: "Sookie Stackhouse, it is a pleasure to meet you." I hated the way he said pleasure. It was almost… well, gastronomical. It was like "hum, this Créeme Brulé is a pleasure!" I really hated it but I had to play my part. He was Eric's maker. He was really old, strong and powerful, and Eric owed him respect. Just as I did too, I guess. Yeah, I really had to play my part.

I nodded and answered him: "Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you too sir."

"You may call me Appius Livius," he said, "since you are Eric's wife. It took Eric a hundred years to earn the right to call me Appius, rather than Master. Then centuries to be able to call me Ocella. Eric, you know Alexei. Sookie, this is my new son."

"Brother," Eric said. The young vampire nodded at him.

"Alexei," I said. And the young vampire smiled at me. Or rather: he _fangy_ smiled at me.

Then, three things happened at once: Eric tensed and slightly moved me closer to him; Ocella grabbed the new vampire's hand and said something to him in what sounded like Russian or some other language similar to it; and the small fangs in the younger vampire's smile grew while he licked his lips.

I could feel my heart immediately starting to beat even more quickly. And apparently the three of them could all hear its increasing rhythmic. And how did I know it? Because the same three things happened again: Eric moved me even closer to him; Ocella grabbed Alexei's arm with even more strength; and Alexei's smile and fangs grew even more again.

Oh. Damn.

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**I hope you've enjoyed the lemons. That was my second time writing sexy smut (and I'm so embarrassed and self-conscious now)… **

**And uh-oh... Ocella and Alexei are in Shreveport! I actually thought that it was really funny that no one asked me if Ocella would bring Alexei with him… And if you remember chapters 4 and/or 6 (I know, it's been a while), Alexei was there, living with Appius in Lisbon. And he was a… "troublesome" child. But, is he dangerous? Or is Ocella? How will Eric react to his maker's presence? And what were they talking about in that other language?**

**"Say It Isn't So" is a song by Bon Jovi, released in 2000 as the second single off their Grammy nominated album Crush. Claudia Schiffer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilio Estevez, and Matt LeBlanc are featured in the music video. **_**"Say it isn't so (tell me it's not true) / Say it isn't so (I believe in you) / Tell me it's a lie (I don't need no proof) / Say everything's all right (couldn't be, not you) / Say it isn't so"**_


	29. We Rule the Night

**Did you guys watch episodes 1 and 2 of TB? Did you? OMG! I managed to find a site online with both episodes (here in Portugal, it will be a while until we can watch it on cable) and I gotta say that I liked it! A lot! Particularly the end of ep.2 with shirtless Eric! On the other hand, I've also finally finished reading DR… And even though I actually enjoyed most of the book, that end almost ruined it for me… What the hell kind of last scene between Eric and Sookie was that? And then the book just ended! WTF? That's it? We'll have to wait another year now? Seriously? P-lease!**

**Anyhooo, I'm back (from a day and a half of meetings with two of the most boring co-workers ever), and here's chapter 29. I hope you'll like it. Célia**

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**Eric "We Rule the Night"**

For the last decade, with De Castro in Nevada and Victor in Arkansas, I've been, as the senior Sheriff (both in age and in time upholding that title), the unofficial King of Louisiana. And even though I've always thought that I'd hate to be a King, I actually liked to have no-one to whom I'd have to bow or do his or her biddings. There were only just a couple of phone calls a month from Filipe asking if everything was okay, plus one visit a year; and obviously, there was also the "transferring to his bank account _his_ share of Louisiana's revenues" part of it. But I was okay with everything.

And because De Castro was still the _actual_ King, I didn't have to have a court nor go to their boring meetings or shit like that. And no one was after me either. Because if I were to be finally killed, the person who'd do the deed wouldn't rule Louisiana because De Castro would still be the King. So no one would even try it. What would be the point? I was just… well… _the_ _boss._ I'd arbitrate disagreements and I kept everyone in line – which was easy because I was a motherfucker really-old vampire warrior. And I was proud of it.

And having no one to whom I'd have to obey was a reason for my pride too. Except, I had. There was Ocella. And even though I hated to have to do his commands, I was also kind of proud of him too.

Odd? Well, let me explain… pride is one of the most important things to a vampire. It is almost intrinsic to us. And I was proud that Ocella was my maker. He was very old, he was extremely strong, he was dreadfully overconfident and he had all the reasons to support his pride. Ocella was remarkable – he had lived for almost 2000 years and that just meant that he was exceptional and truly out of the ordinary. You don't get to be _that old_ without being an outstanding individual. Besides, he had been the one who had given me the wonderful gift that was being a vampire; he had been the one who had taught me everything I had needed to know about vampirism; he was my father; he eventually became my friend; and I would always care for, respect and owe him.

But do not get me wrong: Ocella was a bad person. He was. And yes, Ocella had been awful during my first couple of centuries. More than awful. He had been terrible, dire and dreadful. And I had really hated him back them. More than hate. I had abhorred and detested him with all my strength. I probably thought and planned to murder him hundreds if not thousands of times during those years, even though I knew I'd never succeed. And I actually tried it; I implemented those plans, 15 or 20 times; but to no avail, obviously. The only thing that would come out of it would be more punishment for me. And Ocella himself was so sure that I'd never succeed in trying to kill him, that he never actually commanded me to _not_ try it; and I understand why – he was already almost 1000 years old when I was turned; there was no way that I'd actually manage to really do it.

And then, suddenly, when I was more or less 200 years old, he just stopped seeing me as a boring and troublesome child he was stuck with and started to see me as a fellow vampire. And that had changed everything. From then on, we had become somewhat friends. And another couple of centuries after that, he had become one of my best friends. Well, "best friends" are the wrong words...

The thing is: vampires don't usually trust each other, unless they are linked by blood. And pre-Great Revelation, we couldn't bloody be ourselves with the humans either (we still can't – but things are different now). And no matter how un-social you are, everyone needs people in their lives. And Ocella was one of my _very few_ "people". We had been there for each other for centuries. _Several_ centuries! And that's a lot of time. And, as they say, time heals everything. So, eventually, I somewhat overcame our harsh first couple of centuries and I too started seeing him as a fellow vampire rather than a cruel Master. Besides, I am _me_ now because of him. And I love being _me._

An old, strong and intelligent vampire is an amazing creature. And being a vampire is great. Living forever (unless a stake finds us) is great. And never aging is great. But there is a catch, obviously. And even though it's great to stay at our prime forever, there's also the other side of the coin. I mean, not growing old is awesome, but it can also give you a feeling that no matter what you do, you won't ever evolve or change. And the truth is: not being restricted with time can be as overwhelming and devastating as not having enough time. And this has been real since the beginning of time.

And let me also tell you that it has always been very tough to see the world change all around us while we stayed the same. Absolutely the same! You could go crazy with that. Many vampires did go crazy with that! Imagine the differences between the world where I was born, a small Viking village by the North Sea, and the Italy of Michelangelo and Botticelli, during the Renaissance, and today's New York or Tokyo. Well, I had lived through _all that_ and much more.

And do you think that internet and computers and other IT stuff have been evolving and changing too fast? Imagine instead going from having to walk or ride a donkey, when a 50 miles distance was huge, to being able to fly in an airplane across the ocean in five or six hours. Or thinking that you'd only live until you were 40 or 45 years old if you were really lucky and healthy, but then figuring out that you'd live forever. But that you could only be awake at night. And this was centuries _before_ electricity. Back when the night was really dark and everything was shadowy and indistinguishable. And imagine that from one day to the other you'd have to forget all about your family, because you were sure that your own father and brothers would kill you (or _try_ to kill you) on the spot if they found out the monster you were.

And I'm not even talking about the religious or spiritual features of it. The whole "being a Devil's creature" and the "not having a soul" aspects of it. Yeah, you could go crazy with that. And it had always been a maker's job to prevent that. And Ocella did help me. He taught me everything I needed to know. Everything.

But (and there was always a 'but') besides being great, Ocella had always been a little crazy and unconnected with "the real world" too. And after almost 2000 years, he was even crazier and even less connected to reality. And in today's world, after the "Great Revelation", we had to be extra careful. Before, several years ago, we could almost kill at will because the law enforcers could never find out how, or better yet, by whom, our victims had been killed. But now the police forces were way better than before and there were cameras everywhere – our speed didn't matter anymore because the film could now be stopped frame by frame. And, as Pam used to say, technology took the fun out of being a vampire.

And now humans knew about our existence, they knew about our instincts and, above all else, they knew how to kill us. Yes, we did have to be _even more_ cautious now than ever before. Fanatic groups like the Institute for Time-Honored Human America, the Fellowship of the Sun or the Church of God with Signs and Wonders (and don't get me talking about Russia's Orthodox Patriarchate Church of God – the shit Nat told me about them just meant that they were some crazy motherfuckers…) were everywhere campaigning about how we had to be exterminated because we were what they called of "evil" and the synonym of vice and malevolence. And many humans believed that. In fact, the support (both monetary and in associates) to these extremists groups was raising much more quickly than the support to our rights. The Fellowship of the Sun (the first and biggest of the _several_ "vampire-haters" groups) had even a national TV-channel for crying out loud (and it was an open-channel – everyone could see it if they wanted), as well as free summer camps for children where they were taught, among other things, how wicked vampires were supposed to be.

Yes, it is true: vampires had never been boy scouts doing good deeds every day (I definitively am not a saint), but we weren't necessarily Satan incarnated either. So, yes, we really had to be careful now, more than ever. And Alexei was a time bomb. And Ocella was too weak to kill his own son. Yes, he punished him (quite often and harshly, I might add) but Alexei wouldn't ever change. He was a fucking disaster waiting to happen.

And Sookie was there with me now. And she was "the fucking girl who had broken a Vampire's spirit", in Ocella's words. He actually used to call her that, right before he'd tell me to "get yourself together, break the damn bond and be you again".

And so, when Ocella visited us in Shreveport, I was obviously hoping that he wouldn't make the connection. I consciously hadn't told him her name back when I was with him in Europe. I just spoke about a human girl. But Ocella had seen me at my worst then… I had seriously thought about maybe meeting the sun and there was a time when I first arrived at Lisbon when I truly didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. But now I knew. And I was just really wishing that he wouldn't discover that Sookie was Sookie. Or rather I was just really wishing that he wouldn't discover that Sookie was "the fucking girl". Because she wasn't._ I_ had been the one who was fucked up back then.

But obviously, Ocella did notice that Sookie was part fairy (also something I hadn't wanted him to acknowledge) and then he recognized her importance in my past (he actually _did_ ask me "is she the girl, Eric?")

Up until then we were speaking English but, all of a sudden, he switched to Hindi which he knew I hated because it reminded me my time in India – and those had been two awful decades. Not because of the country (Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi are incredible and the Kashmir region is particularly beautiful) but because Ocella had been the hardest master there.

He then started asking me if I was sure of Sookie and why the hell was I with the same human who had left me before. But the worst was the fact that he kept telling me that I should just take Sookie's life and end all that drama. Those were actually his words: "just murder her and end the drama".

Okay. So killing Sookie was _obviously_ not an option. And so I tried to tell him how important Sookie was to me… but I couldn't just simply tell him I loved her. To love a human would be in Ocella's eyes (and in mine also, before Sookie) something below a vampire. It was the equivalent of a human… I don't know… eating rotten food from a garbage can or something. And whenever I tried to tell him that she was important to me, he kept saying and saying and saying that I should murder her. Even worst: he offered _himself_ to take her life for me if I wanted. "If you like the human and don't want her in pain, I can exterminate her quickly – I promise you she won't even feel a thing. I'll break her neck in less than a second." What a magnanimity and nobility of spirit… Arght! I hated Ocella all over again.

I had to stop all that "killing Sookie" talk, I _had to_, and so I used the strongest point I could and I told him that I had already spent the day with Sookie many times. And let me tell you: it did the trick.

The thing is: we, vampires, are extremely strong, fast and have keener senses. We are much better than humans or weres. We are _the_ best. Actually, we _rule_ the night. But only _at night_. Because during the day we are even more helpless than a human child – at least their babies scream and make some kind of noise if someone's hurting them. We do not. We just stay there, dead to the world, completely at the mercy of anything or anyone. The only thing to do is secure our day resting place as best as we can. And that means: no one _knows_ where it is. Or if that's not possible, at least, no one _has_ _access_ to our day resting place. And Ocella had taught me that early on. And believe me: I had learned the lesson.

In my more than a thousand years, only Ocella, Pam and Natércia had shared my bed during the day. Ocella was a vampire and my maker. Pam was a vampire and my child. Natércia was a vampire and a long time friend. And these three people would also be dead to the world at the same time as I was. But now a fourth person had joined that exclusive club: Sookie Stackhouse – a human. Or rather, Sookie Stackhouse – an _awake-during-the-day-which-means-she-could-kill-me-easily_ human. So yes, it _did_ the trick. Telling Ocella I had spent my days with Sookie showed him how much I trusted her and he finally acknowledged her.

But then there was Alexei and his interest in Sookie. And it bothered me to my core. Just by looking at him, I knew that he wanted to taste her. And just the fact that he thought about savoring Sookie made me want to finally kill him. But the worst was that I feared that Ocella wanted to drink her too.

Fuck! They both wanted _my_ Sookie. Fuck. FUCK! I wanted to scream and just grab her and run away to a fucking deserted island. But I didn't, obviously. Instead I just wondered if I should stay with Sookie and never leave her side, not even for a single second, during their whole stay in Louisiana. But then they'd stay next to her too so they'd be close to me. And that was why I decided that the best thing to do was to leave with my maker and my brother and make sure that they would be as far away from Sookie as possible. I silently thanked again the Gods that Lizzie was away in Tennessee. For one, she was safe there. And secondly, how would I ever explain to Ocella that I was helping to raise a half-were kid?

Anyway, Ocella acknowledged Sookie and then introduced Alexei to her. And my fucking little brother got excited over Sookie. Over _my_ Sookie. The little fucker even had the balls to show both her and me his horny fangs. I got possessive immediately and I started to get ready to get up and just kill him if I needed to. But Ocella intervened, first grabbing him and then telling him to stay still and calm down. I could see Alexei fighting the compulsion to obey our maker, but, obviously, he could not, and so everything became kind of tranquil again.

And consequently, we just stayed at our place for a while, talking about Europe and some friends from there. We also spoke about Louisiana and my work as a Sheriff. And we even talked about Adelaide. Still as politically active as she had always been, Lai was already raising problems in Ottawa, demanding changes in their legislation regarding the legally dead Canadian citizens. During this whole time both Sookie and Alexei just sat there in silence listening to our talk.

But soon Ocella decided that he wanted to leave. And so, three hours later, I too got up to leave our house with my maker and his younger child. I told Sookie I would stay with them at their hotel room and that I would see her in a few days. She didn't answer right away, but she nodded and then for a minute or two she just stared at me.

It was obvious. Especially to me. I could tell Sookie hated the idea. Really hated it. She was probably afraid for me and afraid that I would fuck some fangbangers or even my maker and his new son. But the Sookie-today was not the Sookie-from-12-years-ago. And so, after that minute staring at me, Sookie just kissed me goodbye and asked that I call her whenever I could.

Wow. I was really impressed. I was expecting at least a "why are you going?" or a "what are you going to be doing?" or perhaps even a "when are you coming back?" But she didn't ask me anything. Yes, I was really impressed with her. Her eyes told me "please be careful and behave", but the rest of her face, her body language and the words she spoke just said that she was subservient. And for the hundredth time that night I wished that I had (before that night, obviously) talked to her about my maker, his personality and how I had to obey him (I had intended to talk to her soon, maybe that weekend, but I hadn't had the time). But somehow, she almost looked like she knew it. And then I remembered that she had already gone through the "maker's in town" routine with Bill and Lorena. I hoped that she remembered that I was not like William Compton. Not even close.

And so I packed clothes for a week and left with them. It was already 3 am and Ocella decided that he wanted to go to the hotel. They drove their rented Cadillac CTS and I drove the Porsche I had bought two months before. As soon as I turned on the engine, I called Sookie's cell-phone and used the fifteen-minute drive when I was just by myself to explain to her that I had been planning to talk to her about Ocella but that I had thought that we still had a few days ahead of us to do it. I said over and over again that I was sorry for not talking to her about my maker earlier. I knew she was probably freaking out and silently calling me high-handed, but she only told me to take care. Without giving her much details on the why or how, I also told her in plain words how I had to do absolutely anything that Ocella would command me to do. "It's a compulsion of sorts," I said. She gasped, but she only told me to take care yet again.

"And I meant what I said yesterday, I love you. I've loved you for over a decade Sookie." I truthfully told her.

I heard her sight and then she answered me, "And I love you."

"I have got to go now. I'll call whenever I can, alright?" I said when I could already see the hotel's signs. She told me to take care once more and we ended the phone call.

Ocella and Alexei were staying at a new vampire-friendly hotel at the other side of town. We both parked close the front door, and then moved towards the hotel. There were still a dozen or so willing donors at the door, and I wondered for a brief moment if Ocella would be choosing someone for the night. But he walked inside without a second look at them.

"They have this wonderful menu here," he said while choosing the photos of three young, tall and dark-haired males for our dinner as soon as we got near the clerk, "very exotic and they are all alcohol-free. You remember how I hate to drink any drugs, right?" I nodded and then we all walked to the elevators.

Ocella had checked into this big suite with a living room and two bedrooms. And when we arrived upstairs, I immediately tensed, wondering how Ocella would define the sleeping arrangements. Ten minutes later the three of us were all sitting on the couch (Ocella and I talking about my business and the bars' franchising and Alexei in silence), when someone knocked on our door. Appius opened the door and introduced us to the three young men before glamouring our meals. The hotel had a strict "no glamouring the donors" policy but Ocella just didn't care. He then grabbed two of the boys and went to the biggest room with them while saying something to Alexei in some Russian dialect that I didn't quite understand. But I knew enough regular Russian to understand that those two boys wouldn't be feeling very well tomorrow. The young vampire immediately started laughing and followed the two blood bags into the bigger room, followed by Ocella.

When both Alexei and the humans were already inside the bedroom, Ocella turned around to close its door. He had a genuine smile in his lips when he said to me: "Eric, I am very glad to see you are well. Please, feel free to enjoy your dinner as you see fit. Tomorrow, you will show me your businesses and we will talk again." Relieved, I just thanked him and told him goodnight.

And then, I faced my problem: the blood donor.

When Sookie had come back last year we had decided that we really needed to talk more about everything and, obviously, that meant the creation of some rules. Sookie's (and my) main rule was, obviously, no sex with others. And since she was usually as interested in sex as I was, I didn't felt cock-blocked _at all_, so that was an easy to follow rule.

I had even won three bets with Pam concerning that rule. I still remember when I told her that I would only be having sex with Sookie and no one else. "You won't last a month," she said extremely full of herself. And so we bet. And I won 2000 dollars. When she paid me my due, she just said "That's only because this was the honeymoon month". So we did bet again: this time it was for six more months. Obviously, I remained faithful and that got me out of a couple of really boring days of meetings in last winter's summit at Little Rock. Pam went there in my place. But Pam was never one to be outdone so she bet once more: another half a year. I won a third time, of course.

And so, two months ago, she helped me organize a lovely Valentine's evening as my prize for having won the bet. During the whole time, she just kept saying that it was unbecoming of me, that I should be a badass vampire worried about some motherfucker issues rather than what orchid should I buy for my wife and other similar pearls of wisdom.

But I knew that she would have helped me even if she hadn't lost that last bet. Pam was just saying what she _thought_ she should be saying. She was playing her part – the part of a vampire child. But deep down, she was happy for me that I had found Sookie again. And I knew it because I felt it. Besides, Sookie was her friend too. Later, when I asked her if she wanted to bet a fourth time, she just called me a "pussy" and left the room while I laughed out loud.

And so, looking at my donor for the night, I had no doubt that I would try my best to keep a clean sheet. I wouldn't fuck any meal or my maker unless he made me do it. But I believed that he wouldn't. Ocella and I had always had this strange relationship and we had sometimes been really drawn to each other. Well, especially when he commanded me to. But I knew that Ocella would feel that I was not willing to be with him that way now. And I really believed that he would leave me alone. At least, I hoped he would.

However, biting and feeding was another issue all together. And I was not supposed to do it either, especially not in Shreveport. For the past year, I had only drunk twice from others. And both times happened when I was travelling for over a week and away from Sookie. I was old enough that I didn't need to drink every night so I usually abstained from it when I was away just for a couple of nights. And tasty as Sookie's blood was, I never wanted something different. And so, only twice I had tasted other humans (both males, in consideration of my wife) because I had been away in Arkansas for over a week.

Incredibly, Sookie now was the one who was always saying that I was_ allowed_ by her to drink from others when I was away. And she actually used that word, _allowed_ – and it always made me smile inside. Who'd have thought that a human would ever be in such a position to tell me what I was _allowed_ or not to do? But, like I said, I usually didn't drink from others. I, more often than not, didn't need to drink from those others due to my age and I definitely did not desire it. Drinking once or twice a week from Sookie was more than enough for me and I hardly ever tasted anyone else, even when I was travelling (and even though Sookie _allowed _me).

But that was not the case that night. I was definitively _in_ Shreveport, a few miles from my (left alone) wife. But my maker was there too. And even if I thought that he would understand the fact that I was not in the mood to have sex with him or anyone else, he would never, not in a million years, understand my restricted diet. I could already hear his words if he ever found out that I was mainly only drinking from Sookie. He would scream at me "we are vampire; this is our nature". And he would be right. But nothing had ever felt as natural as loving Sookie did. Maybe Pam was right and I was indeed a "pussy".

I then decided that it was better to indulge Ocella in that matter (even though he was _"occupied"_ in the bedroom, I was sure that he would be keeping an ear on my doings in the living room) and I had my dinner before I sent him away and went to my bedroom. After a long bath, I laid on my bed thinking about Sookie and again glad that Lizzie was away.

Almost a couple of hours later, I heard my cell phone buzzing and then I read Sookie's message: "Please be careful. I love you." The sun was almost up and I wondered if she was _already_ awake or if she had she not slept _yet_ that night. I answered her just minutes before I was out for the day: "And you be patient. I love you. You are my wife. E"

-x-

The next night I woke up way before the sun was down but because I was in a light tight suite, I quickly showered, I dressed and then I went to the living room. Alexei was obviously still sleeping but Ocella was already there, reading that day's newspaper.

He looked completely at ease and asked if I had slept well. I sat on the sofa opposite from him and I answered that I had. We then talked about the European Champions' Soccer League because Ocella was a fan of the sport and after that we spoke about Louisiana's dry and hot weather for a while. But then, with just a couple of words (_"that Sookie"_) he changed the subject to the last theme I wanted to talk about. However, he did keep talking about Sookie with an even voice tone, as if the was still speaking about the weather and not about _my_ wife.

"That Sookie… She is pleasant to the eye. I mean… for those who like her blond, busty and tanned type, obviously."

"Yes, I think that she is very beautiful indeed."

"But she's not only beautiful, is she? She's also part-Fae Eric. And you know that better than everyone else."

"I know she is part Fae, yes." What else did he want me to answer?

"You did not tell me that detail when you told me about the girl in Europe."

"I do not see how it would matter. I didn't bond with her because she was part Fae."

"Do not insult my intelligence child," I then immediately tried to interrupt him. I had _not_ bonded with her because she was part- Fae. I had _wanted_ to do it. Because of Sookie. Not because of her ancestry. Yes, the fact that she was telepathic had interested me in the beginning, and she smelled great, but ultimately I had fell in love with Sookie herself, and it had nothing to do with her supernatural element. Actually, I had wished over and over again that she was just a regular human because she'd be much safer that way. And Ocella should understand that and I should tell him so. But I just shut up, because he kept talking: "Anyway, yesterday, at your place, I kept thinking that the girl smelled like someone I knew. But I couldn't recall who…"

"Oh…" Fuck.

"And then, I realized something today as soon as I got up."

"You did?" Fuck. Fuck!

"Yes. I finally figured it out…" He paused and I felt myself grew tense at that very second, "it is Brigant, right? She belongs to _him_."

"She belongs to _me!_" I screamed at him while getting up from the couch. And for the first time in the last three or four centuries, I growled to him. I actually growled to my maker. But Sookie was mine. She was mine. I wouldn't let anyone else take her away from me again. Not even Ocella.

"And _you_ belong to me." Ocella screamed back at me and got up as well showing me his fangs. Shit! I immediately shut up again. He _was_ my maker and he _was_ almost twice my age. Fuck! So I nodded and I sat again. The fact that I had acknowledged his possession of me calmed him and he sat too. We stayed in silence for a few minutes – the only noise was the one that came from the newspaper each time Ocella turned a page.

But soon, he started with his questions again in a regular voice: "So… Niall Brigant?"

"Yes."

"Explain."

"He is her great grandfather."

"Great grandfather...? Huum… That's not close. Why would Brigant deal with such a lousy part-Fae?" Sookie was not lousy. She was everything but. However, I'd rather that he thought less of Sookie than he had her in too high a consideration. Ocella continued talking: "Unless… her spark? How is it?" Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!

"It's like Niall's." The fucking spark again. Oh, how I wished Sookie had a dark, minuscule, dirty spark.

Ocella continued his questions while I continued saying as little as I could: "Are _you_ the reason why he closed the portals?"

"No."

"Is the girl?"

"She is."

"Why?" he insisted.

"Sookie was attacked by fairies."

"And?"

"Twice."

"I still fail to see why that would matter."

"After the second assault, she asked him to close the portals," I answered.

"And a Sky Fae Prince did what a human girl told him to do?"

"Yes."

"Just like that?"

"Yes."

"Brigant actually closed the portals because a human girl asked him to?" he asked the same thing for a third time. Ocella _really _was having difficulties in believing it.

"He did."

"Hum… Interesting. Tremendously interesting." Shit! "Tremendously interested" was _not_ what I had hoped for Ocella to think about Sookie. Fuck! Ocella then looked back at his newspaper and continued reading it for a while. Ten minutes or so after that, he said: "You know Eric, I think I'm starting to like your girl," he licked his lips, and then he added, "and I think I want to taste her."

* * *

**As I've said before, writing Eric is always hard for me. So, I hope that you've enjoyed the chapter and thought that it was character-like. And what about Ocella? Did he talk and behave as you would have thought? And why is he visiting now? Any ideas? One thing's for sure: he does have an ulterior motive! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you soon! Célia**

"**We Rule the Night" is the second song, of the second CD of the "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong" boxed set, released in 2004. **_**"We rule the night / Only the strong will survive / There's no wrong, there's no right / We rule the night"**_


	30. Damned

**Just some numbers: 30 chapters, almost 100.000 words, over 45.000 hits, 75 favs, 162 story alerts and 672 reviews so far. Wow! Thank you so much for that. This is my first time writing fan fiction and I never thought I'd get that much attention! Again: thank you. And for those who are just reading, don't be shy and **_**pleeease**_** review as well. I love feedback and I really feel that I'm improving both the story and my writing skills because of it. Furthermore, I must also thank Charhamblin, who keeps making me write and write and write! She's great! :)**

**And now, a new Pam's POV. I hope it's character-like and that you'll enjoy it. Take care, but still have fun! Cheers from Portugal, Célia**

* * *

**Pam "Damned**"

When I walked into Bloodbath that night, it was still way before we opened our doors. And as soon as I came in, I noticed her standing there looking confused, and seemingly unsure about what to do next. I came up behind her, intending on simply clearing my throat to get her to look at me, when she spun around and slammed into my chest. Virginia Bradshaw, the IRS person that had been checking our books.

My hand instinctively shot out to steady her, and I found myself gazing down into a pair of the most beautiful brown eyes I had seen in a long time. "I'm sorry," she stammered. I pulled my hand away, noticing that a few other employees were watching the exchange. I asked her to follow me and left to my office.

Virginia had worked for a couple days at Fangtasia and then at Deadliest. She was confirming our books, verifying our stocks and talking with our employees and suppliers as well as checking their papers too. And now she was there, at Bloodbath, about to do the same. And I was glad for it. And now you're thinking: "glad?" Yes, I was. Okay, it's true: having the IRS checking your balance sheets, financial records and everything else was a pain the ass, but I knew that everything was alright and that she wouldn't find a single off-the-books revenue. And above everything else, Virginia was _really_ good-looking.

The thing was, even though Vampires' Rights had evolved tremendously during the last 16 years since the Great Revelation, we were still prejudiced against. And my and Eric's recent _great_ success with our 'Fangtasia' and 'Bloodbath' brands (for some reason, 'Deadliest' was still not as famous) was almost a neon sign saying "we're making all this money, but we're vampires, so we must be doing something against the law".

Anyway, Virginia was obviously not used to be around vampires, and she had probably been silently name-calling the boss who gave her that particular assignment. And she was not a lesbian either. But I'd change her mind, on both aspects. And I had enough time for that too, because Virginia would be confirming if everything was okay with Bloodbath for the next couple of days, but then she'd have to check the franchising and the merchandising's accounting books too. And that would take her _at least_ a week because yes, we were now _that _big an enterprise.

We entered my office and we both sat. After a few pleasantries, I showed and gave Virginia everything she would need for her work and then helped her carry everything with her to the third office room that we had at Bloodbath, where she would be left alone, doing her work. And the way she looked at me when I left told me that she'd soon be mine. _Good_.

Still smiling inside because of Virginia's smile, I went back to my office and started doing my own work. There were two proposals of new possible beverages' suppliers (our current supplier had increased his transportation fees for the third time that year, and I was done with him) and I had to decide which one we would start buying from.

Almost three hours later, I was pleased to feel that Eric was almost there. And, obviously, less than half an hour later, he did enter my office, and I immediately said: "I'm glad you're here. I think I've decided about our new liquor supplier, but I want your opinion too. And that IRS chick is here at Bloodbath tonight,"

"Okay," he said, and that was when I looked up to him and I realized that something wasn't right. Eric had an almost nervous air… Shit. What could it be? I was about to ask him that when he added, "but we can decide that later. Ocella's about to arrive here."

"Already? But wasn't he suppo…"

And then I was interrupted by Ocella himself opening my office's door. I immediately shut up, rose from my chair and moved slightly to my right, towards the window. Ocella was wearing black jeans and a plain dark grey t-shirt and he was followed by a teenager dressed almost the same way. So this would be Alexei, for sure. Eric had told me about him when he came back from Europe, and how the kid was a troublemaker. And now, they were there, on our turf. And almost a week earlier than we expected them.

I quickly wondered if Eric had had the time to talk to Sookie about them before tonight – he had been planning to do it, but he just didn't know how to. But I saved that for later, for when I'd be alone with Eric.

As soon as the two vampires were inside, and after that Alexei kid closed the door, I bowed my head slightly and, looking at the floor, I said to Ocella the word "master". I hated to call him that, but Appius Livius was intransigent about it and I had to as he pleased. He _was _my maker's maker.

I had met Ocella almost 20 years after I had been turned. Eric and I were living as husband and wife in Liverpool when Ocella showed up. He stayed with us just for a couple of nights but that was enough for me to be extremely glad that Eric, rather than Ocella, was my maker. For one, he was much better-looking. And secondly, Eric was _not_ a crazy, damned bastard.

"Pamela," Appius Livius said. That was my consent to raise my head towards him.

I was looking him in his eyes and smiling slightly when I said, "Welcome to the United States. And welcome to Bloodbath as well. I hope that you're enjoying this place and that you'll feel at home here."

"Very much so, yes, this is a very adequate bar. And Eric will be showing me the two other bars later tonight," he looked at me from my head to my toes and then he continued talking, "And he was telling me just now about this franchising project and how helpful you've been to him these last few years…"

"It's my pleasure to help my maker,"

"Oh yes, yes… so I see. And I know how you've always been very helpful," Ocella said while he sat on the chair opposite my table, "Eric, Pam, take a seat. I want you to tell me all about your working ventures," he added.

And that was what we did for the next hour and a half. Meanwhile, Ocella's other child just stood there, on his feet, silent and unaccounted for.

And you know what? He gave me the creeps. He _actually_ gave me the creeps. And believe me, that was something really uncommon. But this kid… There _was_ something about him that just didn't feel right. And the worst part was that during the whole time, while we talked about the bars, Eric and Ocella had their backs towards him, but I had sat almost in front of him and so I couldn't help but look at Alexei from time to time. Hell. Spooky guy. He truly had this sinister air about him and I was sure that it would be spine-chilling if I was still alive. Alexei (if that was indeed who he was, because no one had yet introduced us) had these crazy eyes and I was positive that he meant trouble, just like his maker.

"Well, I'm very happy to hear about your success and very curious to see Fangtasia and Deadliest as well. Eric, let's go there right now," Ocella finally said when we ended our conversation.

"Perhaps you should take a drink here for a few minutes before we leave while I work some details I have to with Pam. And after that, we can go," Eric said. Ocella looked at him, without answering for almost 30 seconds. And believe me when I say that a 30 seconds unmoving and in silence gap, when you're among vampires, is huge. And just then, Eric added, "If you don't mind, of course."

"Of course," Ocella said still glaring at Eric. Eric glared him back.

Shit! I could feel Eric's twinge at having to bow towards his maker. He was obviously not used to be told what to do. And if I could feel it, Ocella would be able to sense it as well. I had to do something and so I said: "We have all types of human blood here for special guests like you," Ocella kept looking at Eric while I continued, "it's not allowed to bite humans in public places, but we do have it and we can serve you the human blood in a glass."

"Human blood?" Ocella said finally moving his eyes away from Eric's towards me.

"Yes. We bought it at the blood bank already iced. We have all types. Like I said, we don't serve it regularly, but we do have it for particular visitors,"

"Good, good. I've never tasted blood that had previously been frozen, but you're never too old to try something new. Don't you agree Pam?" he said smiling. And it bothered me. I hated when hateful vampires smiled.

"Of course Master," I answered.

"Good, good," he said again almost to himself, "then I'll want some A positive, if you have it."

"Yes,"

"And so will Alexei," and then, almost as an after-thought, "oh, by the way, Pamela, this is Alexei, my new son," he said slightly pointing at the teenager looking vampire, "Alexei, this is Pam, Eric's child."

We acknowledged each other by saying our names and then I went with Ocella and Alexei to the public area of the bar, while Eric went to his own office. I showed them Eric's booth and immediately told the bartender what to serve them before I went to meet Eric at his office room. As soon as I entered, I asked whispering: "So soon? Why the hell is he here already?"

"They came yesterday. And I spent the day at the Moviflor Inn with them."

My curiosity jumped in and I immediately wanted to ask him if he had had sex with either of them, but I knew that it wasn't my place to do it, so I just asked instead: "And Sookie?"

"She's at our home," he said and then almost sighed before he added: "Shit!"

"What?"

"Ocella wants to taste her, he told me tonight," Shit! Shit, shit, shit, indeed. I was about to ask him what would he do if Ocella kept insisting on drinking from Sookie, but Eric kept talking (or rather _whispering_ because they were so close to us – however, with that tone of voice and the music out there, not even Ocella's ears would be able to hear us), "Luckily, he doesn't know about her telepathy yet, but he knows she's part Fairy and that she's Niall's kin."

"Why would you tell him that?"

"Don't be obtuse Pam. I did not, obviously. He figured it out,"

"Fuck," damn. I wanted to say something more helpful than an obscenity, but I didn't know what. Shit. If Ocella indeed wanted to experience Sookie's blood, then Sookie would have to let him taste her. Or rather: _Eric_ would have to let him taste her. And what if he liked Sookie? What if he wanted her? Fuck, indeed.

"Yeah. Listen Pam, you'll have to keep an eye on everything for me for the time being, okay?"

"Of course Eric."

"And get a couple more guys guarding Liz in Arkansas besides the ones that are already there," he said. Eric always had someone close by Lizzie whenever she visited her father. He then continued his orders, and I felt immediately better because Eric was on top of things and I trusted that he'd make the best decisions concerning that whole Ocella-clusterfuck, "And also find four or five strong weres here and have them checking Sookie. All the time. And especially at night. But they all must be discreet. I don't want Sookie freaking out or thinking that she might be in danger,"

"Alright," I whispered to him. Eric was really into "boss/maker mode" and I was glad for it. I'd trust him my life without a second thought about it because he was always a couple of steps ahead of everybody else.

"They are all to keep them both away from any danger. Especially from vampires – they must have silver and stakes with them at all times. I don't want a single vampire close to either Sookie or Liz. And make sure that they see these photos," he whispered at the same time that my phone beeped twice with two multimedia messages – it was two cellular-photos of both Alexei and Ocella, and it was obvious that neither of them knew that they were being photographed, "and give them my cell phone number. I want the bodyguards to call me immediately if they spot either of them."

"Okay,"

"And you too. You open your eyes, alright? Don't turn your back to anyone,"

I nodded to him and left him there checking and then signing a couple of documents. I walked to the room where Virginia was and asked her if everything was all right. She said that she was almost finished for the night and gave me the same smile from before. I knew that she was hoping that I asked her out for a drink, but I was no longer interested in her. Not now. Not when I had more pertinent issues in my mind, such as the tension I felt between Eric and Ocella, and also Appius' creepy younger son. And so, I just told her goodnight and left her there.

I was entering my own office room when I heard Eric leaving his, towards the public area of the bar. I kept working and when I felt that Eric was physically moving away from Bloodbath, I immediately picked up my phone and arranged for all the guards. In less than ten minutes, I had people moving towards Liz and Sookie, and they all had both mine and Eric's cell numbers and Ocella and Alexei pictures. I underlined how dangerous these people were, and made sure that they were really strong guys (with stakes and silver with them) and then I just left to my house, after I told Indira that I was leaving.

And that was the last time I heard from Eric, Ocella or Alexei for a whole week. Then, all of a sudden, Eric called me one night and asked me to meet them all at our Fangtasia's franchising place in Monroe. I found it odd that they were in Monroe, but I immediately got inside my car and drove there.

When I arrived, I was astonished to see it closed to business for the night. But then again, after a second thought about the bastard that Ocella was and the crazy his younger child looked like, I recognized that I wasn't really all that astonished… Eric had probably sent everyone home so there wouldn't be an audience that night.

As soon as I got in, I saw Alexei in one booth licking a man's neck. The man was in his forties and he was talking in Russian to Alexei even though the boy was only interested on his jugular and not on his words. But the strangest part was that he truly looked like Alexei's father – the guy, like Alexei, had wicked eyes and the same brown hair. It was _really_ strange.

Eric and Ocella were sitting around another table, talking. I walked towards them and I bowed my head, before I mumbled "masters". I could smell that there was no one else there and I was glad that no employee would hear me calling them that. I know, I know… Silly me! But what can I say? I really didn't want any human to hear me bowing that way. It would undermine my authority in the future… and it hurt my pride in the present.

"Pamela, glad you could join us. Have a seat, child," Ocella said.

I thanked him and I sat.

And then, all of a sudden Eric started talking about exportation fees and property rights, and how I shouldn't forget to get my Dead British Citizenship card as soon as I got there.

And… What _the_ _fuck_ was he talking about? I wouldn't contradict him in front of his maker, obviously. But I didn't know what to answer him either, so I just kept nodding while he talked about written contracts, estimated start-up costs both in London and Cambridge and the cash flow we'd need for something that I wasn't sure yet what.

"So when do you have to leave Pam?" Ocella asked me when Eric stopped talking.

"I…" hell, I wasn't sure _where_ I was going to go (I figured England, but I didn't know for sure), let alone _what_ I'd be doing there or _when_ I would be going, "I'm still waiting for the airline company confirmation," I finally said. Okay, that was a good answer. It didn't say absolutely anything but that I'd be flying there.

Eric immediately jumped in the conversation, "You're still waiting for their answer? Don't they know when the next plane to London is? Have you tried through a Paris connection?" _Thank you Eric_. At least now I knew that I was indeed supposed to go to England and as soon as possible.

"You know Anubis... They are a safe for a vampires' company, but they are a mess with their confirmations…"

"Yes, they always screw with their flight confirmations."

"So Pam, explain to me again who will this English business partner be?" Ocella asked. Huh? Uh-oh! What to say? What to say? But then I was literally saved by the bell, because someone rang the bar's doorbell. "Our dinner's here," Ocella said, immediately forgetting about that so-called English business partner. He then proceeded towards the door to open it. And Alexei left his "friend" and moved to the front of the bar too.

Two blond girls and two dark haired guys, all extremely young looking, entered the bar. They looked excited to be there with some vampires when the bar was closed to everyone else. Hell! What a stupid bunch of humans!

"Pamela, you're welcome to join in. Have you fed tonight?"

"Not yet Master. I will. Thank you."

Ocella chose the youngest male for himself and then Eric selected the tallest woman. Wow… Eric, _in Shreveport, _drinking from others than Sookie…Had he been drinking frequently from humans during the past week? Or worse: had he been having sex with his donors? Or, now that I was thinking about it, his maker or brother? I was wondering how he would ever tell that to Sookie and how would she react to those news, when I nodded to the other woman, who immediately moved close to me. Alexei got the last man.

"Master?" he young vampire said.

"Yes?"

"Can I still drink from the old one again?" he asked pointing at the man who had been sitting with him when I had arrived there.

"No. You've already had him tonight. Just thank him and send him away."

"Yes, Master," he said and did what he had been told to do (after he glamoured the guy).

Then, we all drank from our donors. As soon as it was done, the youngest-looking boy asked if he could put some music playing with the DJ's mixing table. Ocella agreed to it, and soon the four humans were dancing sensually on the empty dancing floor while the three of us talked about Vampire Rights. Alexei was also there, sitting at our side, but he kept silent the whole time.

Half an hour or so later, Ocella asked the humans to sit by him again and Eric used the opportunity to say: "Ocella, Pam and I still need to talk about a few details concerning her work in England. We'll have to go inside for a little while,"

"Of course. Take the time you need Eric," he said motioning for the two boys to sit at his side. Ocella was way more focused on them than on us. And I was thankful for that.

Eric and I then left and we went to the further room of the bar. Neither Eric nor I had an office room at the Monroe's Fangtasia because it was a franchised one, and so we were able to choose whatever room we wanted without raising any alarm about it.

"What the hell Eric? England?" I immediately whispered as soon as we were alone.

"He wanted you. He wants to leave Alexei with me and he wanted to take you with him instead."

I didn't answer. I couldn't. Going away with Ocella? I would die! I hated his guts and I knew how awful he was. Fuck! Would I really have to go with him? "But…" And then I shut up. Yeah. I _really_ didn't know what to say. Eric's hand then touched my arm, almost giving me assurance that everything would be alright. It was and out of character gesture between us, but I felt grateful for it nonetheless.

"I told him about exporting the Fangtasia concept to Europe," Eric whispered, "through England at first, obviously. You were born there, in a rich family, so there's still a register of your birth in the church where you were baptized. That's enough for you to get the British Citizenship. Ocella knows that, because the legislation that authorized it was extremely discussed throughout all the European Union when I was there with him. We discussed it ourselves. So he doesn't think it's odd for you to go there. There's no record of me because I'm much older than you, so I'm not considered a European citizen. And so, I told him that it would be much easier for us if _you_ were the one managing the whole thing."

"Ohh…" Wow. Eric really did have everything thought about.

"He's excited that we'll be working there too because having bars in Europe means that he'll get to be with me much more frequently as soon as he's back to Lisbon, because I'll have to go there from time to time, and so he's willing to let you go."

I was leaving _without_ Ocella. Oh, thank you God. I had been raised a Catholic, but my vampire-turning (and the… well, bad things I had done after it) had made me forget about my previous faith. But right then and there, I was as devoted as you could be. I would go to the Vatican, in Italy, and to the shrine of Santiago de Compustela, in Spain, and to the Lourdes' sanctuary in France as soon as I could to thank for that blessing: _not _being with Ocella.

"Thank you," I said to Eric. And I meant it. I realized, again, how lucky I had been that Eric was my maker, and not some motherfucker crazy guy.

"You are _my_ child," he whispered. And I couldn't prevent myself from hugging him. These kind of personal displays of affection were _really_ few and far between us, but, damn, it felt good to hug my maker, who was preventing me from going away with Ocella, "And you might want to leave as soon as possible," he said still hugging me back.

I left his embrace, I nodded to him and then I asked: "And De Castro? Should I tell him what is happening?"

Eric thought for ten seconds and then he answered: "No. Let's try to keep him away from this. Don't call him. And you should also try to refrain from calling me, okay? And you are also supposed to wait for my call before you come back," he added, still whispering.

I nodded again and then I asked: "And Sookie?"

"Ocella still wants to taste her. We've been arguing over it for a week, but so far I have prevented him from actually drinking from her."

"Good," I wondered for how much long Eric would be able to do it.

"Listen, how's Liz? Any news from Tennessee?"

"I've been receiving the reports from the bodyguards. Everything's alright. She slept at her uncle's once because David had a problem with the freezer at the restaurant but other than that, the bear's always with her and she's having fun there."

Eric looked relieved and then he asked, "And Sookie? Her guards?"

"Everything's good with her too, I guess."

"You guess?"

"She's alright physically. Everything's okay with her guards. But she's missing you, obviously."

"You should call her. Tell Sookie you're leaving and say why, but nothing else. Don't tell her about Ocella wanting to taste her. Let her think that the only problem here is concerning you. I don't want her to worry."

"Okay. But Eric," I paused for a second, and then I whispered, "will _you_ be alright?"

"I will. And I don't want you to worry either. Worst case scenario, I'll be stuck with Alexei for a while," he answered. But I knew (I could feel) that Eric feared worse scenarios than that. However, I also knew (I felt it too) that he didn't want to talk about those others most awful possibilities, so I just nodded again and then we left to the front of the bar.

Both Ocella and Alexei were just finishing from getting a blow job from the human girls and I was glad for it because it meant that Ocella hadn't been paying attention to our whispers in the back.

We then noticed that it would be dawn soon and we all left the bar. We said our goodbyes and then I got in my car and the three of them got inside Eric's car. The four humans had driven in two motorcycles, and they too left, after being properly glamoured (Ocella never let a human remember about him).

The drive back to Shreveport took me a while and I got home right before sunrise. I quickly showered and then I booked the first flight to London on-line.

The next night, as soon as I woke up, I called Sookie and told her about my trip to England. I then finished packing and went to Bloodbath. I still had several things to deal with and I would have to die for the day at the Anubis' Terminal because I had a flight for the next day. I left Indira, Dahlia and Clancy in charge of everything, but they were told that they weren't allowed to make any big decisions concerning the bars. They were only to deal with regular day-to-day issues. And I was confident that between the three of them, they would probably manage it. Besides, Maxwell would be arriving from his vacation soon too – and he'd help them.

I also talked to Virginia that night, and I explained that I would be travelling for at least a few days, but that she was welcome to go through all the books and everything else that she needed (Clancy had expressed orders to help her with everything she asked). Anything for the IRS, right? She answered me that she'd finish checking everything in just two days, and that we'd receive a letter from her office with her conclusions, but that so far absolutely everything looked alright. I thanked her, and she thanked me back for the availability of showing her everything and we said our goodbyes. Receive a letter? So I wouldn't be seeing her again. Well, it didn't matter. There was no shortage of beautiful brown eyes.

I then drove to Anubis, I checked in my bags and I went to sleep there.

I woke up again while we were right in the middle of the Atlantic and I spent the rest of the flight thinking about Eric and what the hell he would do if Ocella kept insisting on tasting Sookie. I knew that Eric hated to share. And this was Sookie we were talking about… It was Sookie that Ocella wanted to sample… And she _was_ tasty. I had only drunk from her once and even though her blood had been tainted by the maenad's poison that night, she had indeed been delicious. And there were so few part-fairies… To have one was a truly fabulous thing. And let's not forget her telepathy! But thankfully, Eric had somehow managed to keep it a secret from Ocella.

We landed just an hour before sunrise and I only had the time to take a taxi to the hotel before I fell asleep. And the next night, I started my "nothing to do" time in the UK. I shopped, I met a few old friends, well, acquaintances, and I familiarize myself anew with my own birthplace again. And, just for the fun of it, I did get my Dead British Citizenship Card (last time I had lived in England had been pre-Great Revelation and I evidently used a fake ID then). And I shopped some more.

I was waiting for Eric's phone call to tell me that I could go back to the States. Or, I was waiting for Eric's phone call to tell me that I had to go to Ocella. But either way, I was waiting for Eric's call.

A week later though, I jumped onto a plane, back to Dallas, and then Shreveport without receiving any phone call from him. And why? Because, I had felt his incredible pain, I had felt him losing his strength almost up to the point of final death. I had felt his _extreme_ weakness and frailty. And I had also felt his anger and his anguish. His _extreme_ anger. And his _extreme _anguish. Because he didn't answer my phone calls, I decided I'd go back. If I had to be with Ocella, then so be it. But I would _not_, I definitely _would not_ linger and not answer Eric's call. Granted, he hadn't actually called me on the _phone_; hell, he hadn't even _answered_ my phone call. But he _had_ called me. And, even if it meant that I'd have to stay with Ocella, I _would_ answer Eric's bond calling.

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**So? Thoughts about Ocella? About Alexei? About Eric's plan to keep Pam free? And what did you think about Pam's voice? Did you like it? And what about the last paragraph? **_**"Extreme weakness and frailty", "extreme anger", "extreme anguish"…**_** And then, I ended the chapter. Yes, I was pulling a "Charlaine Harris" there leaving that loose end. **_***haha haha - evil laugh* **_**But I'll update again as soon as I can, don't worry!**

"**Damned" is the sixth song of Bon Jovi's "These Days" album. This song is about a love affair between a married woman and the singer of the song. **_**"I'm lying here beside you in someone else's bed / Knowing what we're doing's wrong / But better left unsaid / Your breathing sounds like screaming / It's all that I can stand / His ring is on your finger / But my heart is in your hands / CHORUS: Damned if you love me / Damned if you don't / It's getting harder holding on, but I can't let you go / Damned if you don't need me / Damned if you do / God, I wish it wasn't me standin' in these shoes / Damned, damned"**_


	31. Why Aren't You Dead

**Hello! Here's chapter 31. I hope you'll enjoy it. And don't forget to review, if you can. Oh, and happy 4****th**** of July to those who celebrate it ("Portugal's day", our national holiday, is the 10****th**** of June). Cheers from Portugal, Célia**

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**Sookie "Why Aren't You Dead?"**

It had been one week and one day and still no Eric. Okay, I got it, his maker/sire/dad/mentor was in town… but geez Louise! He had texted me back the night he had left with Alexei and Ocella, asking me to be patient and calling me his wife. I was both very angry and extremely scared that night, and for a few seconds I felt the urge to text him back saying that giving a knife to a person didn't constitute a marriage or else I'd be married to most patrons of Merlotte's Bar _and_ Brown's Rest and Grill; but instead I just focused on the "I love you" part of his message. And then, on the following night, he texted me again: "Do not go to the bars. Just stay at home at night. And do not call me. I will call as soon as I can. EN" And I could immediately see that I _really _had to do what he was saying, because he _really_ meant it.

And how did I know that? Well, firstly by the lack of contractions on his text message. Whenever he was stressed out or nervous about something, Eric usually dropped the contractions when he spoke. But he hardly ever did that when he was texting. And secondly, he had signed EN. Whenever he wrote to me, he usually didn't sign anything at all or instead he would only write an 'E' like he had done the night before. So yeah, that was serious, and I really had to do what he was saying.

So, of course, I didn't go to the bars and I didn't call him. But the thing was: he didn't call me either. And other than those two text messages, there had been no more contact. Absolutely no contact. At all.

And even Pam hadn't had news from Eric either since that night. But then, all of a sudden, she called me to say that she had been with him in Monroe (I wondered quickly what the hell was Eric doing in Monroe, but I let it be) and that she was leaving to England. "It's an order from Eric", she said.

"But why?" I asked her.

"Because Eric told me to."

Arght! Oh. My. God. I breathed deeply and I tried to stay calm. Sometimes Pam really took my patience away. She really was just a female, younger version of Eric. They both took everything too damn literally. Too. Damn. Literally. Of course if it was an order from Eric, he had told her so. Dah! What I had meant was the reason _behind_ the order. Obviously.

"But why? I mean: what made him send you away? Are you in some kind of danger?" Oh, my... Was I?

"I'm not sure. Maybe it was because apparently Ocella suggested that he might take me with him and leave Alexei with Eric."

She wasn't sure? Maybe? Apparently? Jesus. If Ocella wanted to take her with him, _of course_ Eric would send her away. To me that sounded a very legitimate reason for his reaction. And a pretty obvious one. There was no "maybe" there.

And… My God! Could Ocella really force Pam to leave with him? Jesus Christ! I kind of understood that he could force Alexei to stay, being his maker and all… But Pam was Eric's child. Could "grandpa-makers" force commandments as well? Or would he force Eric to make Pam do what Eric himself didn't want her to be doing? Good God! All these vampires were crazy. They were completely crazy! We humans just had to wait until we're 18 to start thinking by our own head and making our own decisions (and mistakes). But there he was: Eric, a more than 1000-years old vampire, still obliged to do what his "dad" told him to do! For Heaven's sake…! That was crazy. That was absolutely and utterly crazy!

I tried to put myself in a place where someone else had utter control over me. I tried to feel what he must feel. But I simply couldn't do it. I couldn't imagine that, say, my grandmother had decided something life-changing for me without my opinion being taken into consideration. And then, fully expect me to carry out her wishes. And not even non life-changing choices… I loved to be autonomous and even though I frequently asked for other people's opinion, ultimately, _I_ was the one deciding what _I_'d do with _my_ life.

And Appius had this sort of always-there manipulation instrument. Poor Eric. Well, Eric _himself_ had it too with Pam even though I've never seen him use it … Jesus. Poor Pam, as well.

I tried again but I just couldn't picture myself in that position. I couldn't. And that was actually one of the reasons why I hadn't enjoyed nor did I want to blood bond again – just the fact that Eric would, to a certain extent, be able to feel and maybe even manipulate my emotions was something I had told Eric several times during the last few months that I didn't want to experience again. Let alone, having to _do_ someone else's bidding.

Anyway, there was something else I needed to know, so I forced myself out of my thoughts so I could talk to Pam. "And what else did Eric say to you?" Or, as my mind wanted my mouth to scream: did she have any message to me?

I was silently praying that she had something from Eric to tell me, and so I could _only _be disappointed when she answered: "Nothing more. He just told me to leave to London and to not call or come back until I heard from him. And that's what I'm doing."

Damn the maker-child bond! Pam hardly ever questioned an Eric's order. She just accepted it and did as she was told. I knew I wouldn't get anything more from Pam, so we ended the call. She still had to pack (she was leaving the next morning, so she had to arrive at Anubis Terminal that same night) and she also still had to deal with a few more problems regarding the bars.

So, after Pam's phone call, I just stayed at home (as I had been told), and I thought about that entire situation. I wondered who would be responsible for the bars since none of us was there (with me at home, Pam in England and Eric… well, with Eric somewhere unknown, doing only God knew what with that… _family_ of his). And I also wondered about myself and what should I do.

My daughter was spending three weeks with her father in Tennessee, Eric was MIA and then he had asked me to stay at home. So: no daughter, no boyfriend and no job. And no news from Eric since that second text message. I was going insane.

As a result, during those days, I just tried to keep myself busy during the day… I tripled my gym's classes, I cleaned the house with extreme detail (even the garage), I went to the hair dresser twice (twice in one week was something unheard of)… Yes, I just tried to stay busy during the day so I would sleep better at night. But I didn't. I'd wake up four, five times each night because I was worried sick about Eric. And that had even made me think about something else. Something I didn't like to think about. Our bond. Or lack there off.

We had been together for almost a year and a half now and we were still bond-free. Once in a while he would talk about it but he never insisted too much when I answered him "not yet". The thing was: being able to feel all his emotions, knowing that he could feel all my sentiments too and that we would be able to send feelings to each other… Well, it was just too much (_way _too much) and it still frightened me. And I sure didn't want to run scared again. _Ever_ again.

But during those days? Well, not knowing how Eric was or how he was dealing with all that "Ocella being in town" issue was tough. And strangely, I found myself thinking that maybe I'd like to be blood-bonded with him again.

A couple of days later, Pam called me from the UK and I asked her what she had been feeling from Eric in the last week. And she just answered that it was a good thing I couldn't feel him anymore because Eric had been extremely mad and angry in those last few days. Without much hope, I asked her again if she knew anything else. And, surprisingly, she did. And Pam even told me what she knew. And it was not good. Not good at all.

Appius Livius had indeed been having some problems with Alexei. "He still can't control his impulses, it's like he's only a few years old, a decade at most… And in Europe, Alexei had been hurting and killing humans with too much frequency and no matter Ocella's damage control, the city officials were starting to notice it," she said.

"_Too much frequency?"_ as opposed to "once in a while it's okay to hurt and kill humans?" Jesus. What a bucket of cold water. Good God. Pam was my friend (actually, I'd been seeing her as one of my _best_ friends for a while) but the way she was talking (so at-ease) about the "normal" time between human deaths was just creepy. And scaring. But I let her continue talking. She was never one who talked very much, so I should let her speak. And so, she kept explaining how Ocella really wanted Eric to help him dealing with Alexei's "problem", the can't-stop-killing problem (what a psychopath!). Or better yet: Ocella wanted Eric to "babysit" his younger _murderer_ brother (and he wanted him to deal with all the problems Alexei meant) while Ocella "played" with Pam.

And that was when, as Pam kept telling me, Eric lied to Ocella (I didn't even know that a vampire could _lie_ to his maker) and told him that they were going to export the Fangtasia concept and that Pam was needed in England for a while to help him businesswise. "Lots of money can be earned" was apparently a valid-enough argument for Ocella, and he let her leave. So, "YAY" for Pam. However, the fact that Pam had left, only made Appius Livius change the "lets swap Pam and Alexei" plan to the "Ocella just leaves Alexei with Eric" arrangement.

Okay. So now I understood a little better why Eric had been angry. His maker wanted to take Pam away and instead give Eric a young vampire and a ton of problems attached to him. Nevertheless, that was not a reason for him to stay away from me (and not calling) for so long. If Ocella's only demand was for Pam, Eric would have been able to contact _me._ Right? I was sure that there was something else. And I feared that it had to do with me.

But meanwhile, I just kept trying my best to stay busy during the day, so I'd sleep better at night. But my thoughts and my worries for Eric kept preventing me from sleeping. And so, exactly thirteen days after the last night I had seen Eric (yes, I was counting the days), I finally made up my mind. I decided that I'd go back to Tennessee and stay there with Liz for a while – her time with her dad was about to end, and he'd send her back soon because he'd be back to the restaurant full-time. And I sure didn't want her in Shreveport. So I decided I'd go back to Cleveland. Liz and I would stay at a close by B&B or some other place like that, and she would be able to extend her time with her cousins and her father.

Besides, I knew Eric would understand that I wanted to keep her away and that I wanted to be away from all those vampires myself. Okay, call me racist if you must, but Liz would only be friends with Eric, Pam and Bill. No one else of the vampire kind. Well, maybe Dahlia and Clancy too... or Maxwell and Indira as well (and only because they were deadly scared of Eric). But no one else!

And so, decision made, I texted Eric saying that I was leaving to Tennessee (I specified that I was _temporarily_ leaving to Tennessee) and I started to pack a few things that I would need for my trip. Eric didn't answer to my text message, but after almost two weeks without contact, I didn't expect him to.

I was just wondering if clothes for a week would be enough, when I heard a male, accented voice behind me, by the door of our bedroom. "Are you going somewhere?"

The voice scared me and I dropped the hair drier that I was holding with my hands and started to turn around. But then, out of the blue, I realized that I hadn't heard the sound of the hair device hitting the floor. Instead, I had heard steps. And then, when I finished turning around, I saw him. I saw the young, teenage-looking vampire. Alexei. He was there. And I suddenly saw the hair drier in his hands. He had moved close to me and grabbed it, preventing the hair drier from falling to the floor. Or better yet: he had _vampire-quickly_ moved close to me. And he was _right there,_ next to me, sniffing my neck.

I had only two thoughts in my mind. The first thought was "What the hell?" I mean: I wondered why Alexei was there. Why was he there and without Eric? And in my bedroom? And the second thought was "shit". Because he _was_ there, _without_ Eric and in my _bedroom_.

"Alexei, you startled me," I managed to say in spite of my fear. His eyes moved from my neck to my own eyes and I kept questioning, "What are you doing here? Where are Eric and Appius Livius?"

But he didn't answer me that. Instead, he just said: "I glamoured those weres that you had here, the five of them. You know, I really hate double-natured blood and I wasn't in the mood for killing, so I took the liberty of sending your bodyguards away. I hope you don't mind this."

Alexei's accent was clearly Russian (I had already figured out his birth country just by his name – Alexei was clearly a Russian, or at least East European, name), with him saying "zis" instead of "this" and "vasn't" as an alternative of "wasn't". And, if possible, that Russian accent made him even more scaring. But I switched my focus from his accent to his words. His words… Weres? Bodyguards? What the hell was he talking about? _Who_ the hell was he talking about? But then I decided that I wouldn't focus on that either. Instead, I repeated my previous questions: "What are you doing here? Where are Eric and Appius Livius?"

Alexei's small, cold hand brushed my hair and then he kept touching me with his fingers through my jaw line, and then my neck, while he answered me: "Master's hurt and recovering somewhere, I guess."

Had Alexei hurt his maker? Was that even possible? How? Or had someone else hurt Ocella? But Eric would have prevented that for sure. What if… Oh my God. Eric! "Alexei, where's Eric?" Where was he? Was he hurt or was he alright? Oh my God. Eric…

The vampire moved even closer to me and I realized that he had exactly my height. He then said: "The Viking's locked in silver."

Ah… What? Why? Where? How? But I finally asked: "Who?"

"The Fellowship of the Sun people. And you know something? They are much more organized than the Orthodox Patriarchate Church of God in Russia. They are much better vampire-haters."

Hah? I hadn't realized yet by then that Alexei had been the one that had called them so I started to tell him that we both needed to go there and free Eric. Like: now! But he just looked at me and then started laughing. He laughed for two or three minutes before he talked again. And to insult me.

"Stupid human! You are dim and ignorant. _I_ was the one who called them as soon as Master and his other son were both hurt. And the Fellowship guys got there just in time before Eric had had the time to heal himself."

I sat in my bed. I couldn't believe. But then I looked at Alexei and saw his hatred eyes and I understood everything immediately. Somehow, he had hurt both Eric and Appius Livius and had called the Fellowship of the Sun. The FotS people had managed to grab Eric while he was still recovering from his injuries but Appius had in some way managed to stay free.

But Alexei was so young… I wondered… "How did you do it? I mean: how old are you?"

"I died in 1917. I'm more or less one hundred years old."

I was sure Alexei was there to drink my blood. But for some reason I was more curious than everything else. I was also afraid for me and sad for my daughter, of course, but I was mostly curious. Eric was at least 1000 years old. Appius Livius almost twice Eric's age. And Alexei was "just" 100 years old. I knew that vampire's strength came from their age. So how had he managed it? I really had to know. How was it that he was still alive?

I wanted to ask him why he weren't dead or how he had escaped Eric and Ocella, but instead I just said: "So how did you hurt them?"

"I shot my maker with silver bullets at his back. Your husband", the way he said husband was full of hatred and contempt, "my older brother Eric, saw it but he couldn't do anything. Master had ordered him against fighting and killing me. So he just stood there watching me do it. And then I shot him as well. They were laying there, trying to recover when I used a couple of silver nitrate needles on them. I was told that the way our body expels the silver nitrate is painful and takes at least a few hours if we have access to a lot of blood. Without it… hell, I don't know."

He was laughing again now and for a second he really looked like any American teenager that had been invited by the most popular girl in class to go to the ball. He looked almost happy. But his hatred eyes, again, spoke volumes. And they spoke something entirely different. Alexei was a really _bad_ person (ah… vampire). He wished that others suffered.

When he stopped laughing, he continued: "And then I stayed there watching them both feel the silver burn them inside and bleed by their shot wounds and that was when I called the Fellowship guys. They even have a hot-line. Did you know that? They do! It's 0-800-KILLVAMP." He laughed out loud again before he added: "No, I am just kidding. That is not the number. But they do have a hot line," he said while he kept laughing.

My mouth was completely dry, but I was still able to ask my next question, "Why would you do that?"

"Because I was bored. And I wanted to be either free or finally dead. But Master wouldn't let me go either way. And now I will get my wish granted for sure. If Master doesn't recover, then I will be free. If he does recover, then I am already dead," he paused for a few seconds thinking to himself and then he almost sighed before he said, "But I know that my maker escaped the Fellowship guys. If he manages to pull through this night, he will recover during his sleep tomorrow, and I know that he will finally kill me, as I have wanted him to do for much time. On the other hand, I am sure Eric was caught. So my big brother is now a puddle of blood and guts," he laughed loud again, "internal organs and bowels on the floor." He looked at me from head to toes and then added: "Or he will be soon."

I almost screamed and then I fell from the bed, where I had sat, to my knees on the floor. There was so much pain in my heart that I thought I would die right there because of it. Alexei closed the already short distance between us and he grabbed me, he pulled me up to my feet and then he hugged me. I tried to break free but he didn't let me.

"Master _really_ wanted to taste you. And Eric _really_ didn't want that. They've been arguing over it for a week," he licked my neck twice and then moved his head so I was looking at him. "Tell me: are you _that_ sweet?" He didn't wait for me to answer his question and instead he grabbed my chin and moved my head so I was now looking ahead. "Let's see, shall we?" He said. And then he sank his fangs in my neck and started drinking… _me_. I continued trying to break free from his arms for a couple of minutes but the loss of blood soon took my strength away. And suddenly, I felt really tired and I knew I was about to die. But then he stopped. He licked my neck again and dropped me on the bed. I was really tired by the lack of blood and I just felt asleep instantly.

When I woke up, I guessed that it was close to noon by the light that entered through the opened window. And I realized that I was tied to my bed. I tried to break free from the knots but I didn't manage it. I was still feeling extremely fragile and tired and then I must have dozed off again because when I woke up once more, it was night already and I saw Alexei looking at me with a glass in his hand.

"Now I see why big bro keeps you. You are delicious!"

As soon as he said "big bro" I thought about Eric and I felt the same pain from the day before. Eric was at the mercy of the Fellowship of the Sun. If it weren't for Liz, I would have begged for my death.

Alexei then came to me and told me to drink from the glass. "It's the chocolate milk you have downstairs. At least that's what was written in the bottle." I said that I wouldn't drink but he forced me while he said. "I want to drink more of your blood. And for you to replenish it, you must rehydrate. So drink this now! It's liquid and it's sugary," he looked at me and hen he smiled before he added, "You know, I was going to kill you yesterday, but now I think that I might keep you for a couple of days. I'll let you rest tonight and I'll drink you dry tomorrow night."

And then he left as soon as I had finished drinking the chocolate milk. Just like that. He told me he'd kill me on the next night while giving me a child's beverage (_my_ child's beverage) and walked away. Jesus Christ! This guy was a completely crazy bastard. And I was at his mercy. His _inexistent_ mercy. And so I stayed there, tied to my own bed, thinking about my own murder. I could hear sounds from downstairs. First music and then some movie on the TV. And I just laid there crying for Lizzie, crying for Eric and crying for myself.

Two or three hours later, his void of a brain left the house.

I was terribly sad and I felt completely hopeless. I kept trying to think about the good times in my recent past but that only made me cry harder. I didn't know how much time had passed since Alexei had left the house, but suddenly, I felt a void coming up the stairs. I was afraid that Alexei was back to kill me, but thank God, I heard another voice speaking. A female voice. A friend's voice.

"What the hell happened here? Where's Eric? Why are you like this?" Pam suddenly appeared and asked while breaking my arms free. Thank God! Pam! Pam was there! She'd know what to do. I hugged her and she repeated her questions but I couldn't answer her yet. I had a much more pertinent question to be answered.

"Where's Alexei?"

"Appius Livius' boy? I don't know. Eric sent me away like I told you. And I was supposed to stay there until he called me. But last night I felt him so angry, and then he was weak… I was afraid that he had been hurt somehow and I called him. But he wouldn't answer his phone nor would he tell me through the bond that he was okay, so I came back. _Now_ can you tell me what the hell happened here and where's Eric?"

"_And then he was weak"_ Oh Eric… "Can you feel him Pam? Can you feel Eric now? _Right_ now?" Had I lost the love of my life?

"Of course I can. Why wouldn't I? He's as crazily angry as yesterday. Where is he? Why were you like that?"

"Oh, thank God!"

"Where is he? What happened?" she asked again.

"Alexei hurt Ocella and Eric and then he…"

"He couldn't have. He's too young." Pam said, interrupting me.

"I know. But he did. And then he called the Fellowship. They have Eric," Pam's fangs immediately dropped from her mouth and she looked as deadliest as I had ever seen her. I'd hate to be on the opposite side of her now. And you know what? I was glad for that because she was this way for Eric's sake. They were incredibly protective of each other and I was extremely happy that she was there. Pam would _really_ know what to do.

"The Fellowship?" She asked and growled. The hair in my arms rose at the coolness of her voice and growl. She was definitely a killing machine now. And not all the light and pastel colors in her soccer-mom clothes would be able to contradict her eyes and her fangs. She was, effectively, a cold-blooded murderer then.

"Yes. And we have to go there and get him back. I was afraid Eric was dead already. Are you sure you can feel him at this moment?" I had to be sure that he was okay. It was the most important thing now. Eric _had to_ be okay. He had to.

"Yes, I am." Thank God. Thank God. At her second assurance that she could feel him, I felt an immense relief. Eric was still alive (well, not finally dead). I felt immediately better. And Pam, in the meantime, had also finished breaking me free from my bed-prison.

I got up while she continued talking: "And now I'm as angry as he is. I'm so gonna kill the little son of a bitch as soon as we get Eric back. I'll make sure Alexei pays dearly for this." And I knew she was. She looked exactly like Eric when he was in "berserk-fight" mode.

Now: do you know the saying? The "talk about the devil" saying? Something about how when you talk about him, he shows up? Well, it really is a nice saying. And true too, because then we were interrupted. And by the devil himself.

"What are you talking about? What am I to pay?" Alexei's accented voice asked.

Pam got up and she was in "battle mode" instantly.

"You motherfucker," she said to him, "I'll kill you. Right now."

She then started walking towards him in her murderess way. Good. _Very_ good. But then she stopped. Not good. _So _not good. And I just wondered why was she stopping and when would she start the "killing Alexei" part. Yes, I know. It was not very Christian of me. But Alexei really had to die. He just… had to die.

"I… I… I can't." Pam whispered in a voice so low that I almost didn't hear her. She couldn't? I didn't understand… Did she have scruples about killing her… uuhh… "uncle"?

Alexei laughed again. As loud as before. "You are Eric's child. He was told by Master not to hurt me. It was an order. So you can't hurt me either. You can't kill me. Hell, you can't even fight me. Not even to defend yourself."

Oh. My. God. Pam couldn't fight Alexei. Pam _physically _couldn't fight him. He'd attack her and she would have to stay there receiving pacifically his assaults. She'd have to let him kill her without even being able to do a thing about it. And all because of what Ocella had told Eric. Pam had been in England but she was still forced to obey Ocella's command through Eric… And now Alexei would kill us both and Eric would stay with the Fellowship people. And my daughter would lose her mother. Ohh God.

Alexei then put a leather glove on his right hand and after that he took a knife from his back pocket. The lamp's light made it almost sparkle. And I was pretty sure that it was a silver knife. His left hand grabbed a stake from the same back pocket. I looked at Pam and she looked back at me.

I saw defeat in her eyes.

And fear.

Ohh God!

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**So? What did you think about the chapter? I'm not so sure about chapter 31 as I usually am when I update. I tried to make it better, but this was all I managed to write. I guess I wasn't into a writing-mode when I wrote this. But I wanted to add a new chapter, and I still hope you've enjoyed it. **

**Anyway, Eric's locked by the Fellowship, Ocella's in pain trying to recover somewhere, and Pam can't do a bloody thing. How will they get out of it? Oh, and I took some liberties about the "grandpa-maker" orders. I hope you won't mind it. In my head, it makes sense that a vampire would be able to command his/her children's children. And I think that Charlaine Harris never told us about this, right? If you remember something about it on the books, please tell me so. Célia**

"**Why Aren't You Dead?" is a song performed by Bon Jovi and appears on the album "100,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong..." (2004). Its lyrics are crazy and the chorus goes like this: **_**"**__**You said you couldn't live without me / So why aren't you dead? / Instead of six feet under you're in someone else's bed / There's just one thing that I can't get through my head / You said you couldn't live without me so why aren't you dead? / Ashes to ashes, dust to dust / If you can't trust the livin' baby who can you trust?"**_


	32. Dyin' Ain't Much of a Livin'

**Hello! I managed to write a lot today. Yay! So, here's another Eric's POV. I hope that it's character-like. Anyway, I must thank Charhamblin for her wonderful help **_**betaing**_** this story. The mistakes, though, are all mine. The characters, unfortunately, are not. **_**Espero que gostem do capítulo**_**, (that's "I hope you'll enjoy the chapter" in Portuguese) and please don't forget to review. Célia**

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**Eric "Dyin' Ain't Much of a Livin"**

Ocella had had, _obviously, _an ulterior motive for his visit: he wanted to get free from his fucking child. But when he saw Pam, he decided that besides leaving Alexei with me, he'd take her with him. And that pissed me off. That truly pissed me off. Pam was _my_ child, she had been _my _choice and it had been _me _to turn her and then teach her everything she knew. But because _he _had made me, he thought that he was entitled to everything that was _mine_. But he wouldn't take _my_ child, and he would not taste _my_ wife. Yes, Ocella was my maker and he was much stronger, but I was more cunning and intelligent than him, and I would not let him have what was _mine, _nor my child, nor my wife, nor my bars, nor my position in Louisiana.

Getting Pam free from him was somewhat easy because, luckily, he believed my lie and let her go to Europe. Getting Sookie free, on the other hand, was proving to be something much harder, but so far, I had managed it – I had downplayed her taste and her importance in my life, and his intention to sample her had somehow reduced too; though he still wanted to drink her.

And then there was Ocella's interest in my bars and my Sheriff position. He had _too much _interest in everything, and he had too many questions about it. But I didn't think that he wanted to take it away from me. No. He just wanted me to _fail_ at it. He wanted my bars to make me lose money, instead of earning it. And he wanted me to lose my importance and my power in the Louisianan Vampire hierarchy.

But I was a good Sheriff and a good businessman, and I would not fail.

Besides, Pam had taught them well. And she had also given them good instructions because Clancy, Dahlia, Felicia and Maxwell had been dealing with the bars without major problems. In addition, Area 5 was, as always, problem-free. And none of the other Louisiana Areas had major problems that couldn't be dealt with later, either. Filipe had received his monthly share of money from us and was still ignorant about what had been happening in Shreveport.

And what had been happening there?

In a more personal aspect, I had been drinking humans almost every day and I was feeling remorseful about it because I knew that Sookie would not like it. But Ocella wouldn't accept my restricted diet, so I kept drinking them nightly, even though I did not even need so much blood. On the positive side, I hadn't yet been forced by my maker to have sex with anyone (not him, or Alexei and not even my meals), so I had managed to stay cheater-free.

In a more Sheriff-aspect, three humans had almost been killed by my younger fucking brother. And he had gone without a punishment, which was against our Laws. And I should have disciplined him, as a local authority. Or, even more than that, I should have reported him to even higher authorities. But each time it had happened, Ocella said that "almost kill" wasn't a real problem. He only believed in punishing Alexei whenever he actually did kill someone. And so, the kid was still unpunished.

Ocella and I had been arguing a lot over the last two weeks. Well, not really arguing… because I truly couldn't really argue with my maker. But after more than a thousand years, Ocella allowed me my opinion and I had been stating it frequently. And it was my opinion that Alexei should meet his final death. He was a pest. He should be simply terminated. But Ocella didn't agree, obviously.

And now Alexei had over-done yet again. He had almost killed (it was the fourth time in two weeks) the red-haired girl that was to be his dinner. Only Ocella's words for him to stop drinking and hurting the girl prevented that (and even after Ocella's words he had kept trying to overcome his compulsion to obey his maker). And the worst part was that the girl wasn't even glamoured, so she was just kept conscious and screaming in pain during her whole ordeal.

So, there it was. Another Alexei's mess for me to deal with. Yes, I could just call some vampire in my Area and have him or her do it for me. But this was a personal thing. Almost a family issue, not an Area 5 problem. Besides, Alexei should really be brought to justice and face trial for his many deeds. But Ocella didn't want it – he kept repeating that Alexei was his child and he would be the only one punishing him. And I was afraid to bring someone else to clean this mess, because then Alexei's actions would be known. And so, I found myself, _yet again_, dealing with my maker's recent error: his younger child's mistakes.

As soon as Alexei dropped the girl, I grabbed her, I glamoured her to keep her calm and quiet, and then I proceeded to clean and heal her neck injury – I wouldn't use my blood for her, obviously, but luckily her cut didn't look like a bite wound at all. I used my saliva and also some povidone-iodine topical antiseptics on her neck. After that, I gave her some water to rehydrate her as well as some kind of cookies or biscuits (or whatever those were) to contradict her blood loss. And soon, she was feeling better.

I glamoured her friends as well, and a few minutes later, I left Ocella's rented house (where he had been staying for the last four days after the hotel's manager had asked him to leave Moviflor Inn because of the constant flow of glamoured donors in Ocella's bedroom) and I drove the girl and her two friends to a close-by bar. I made sure that they only recollected drinking lots of alcohol and then a fun, even though somewhat rough, night out with a group of bikers and nothing else.

Driving them there, glamouring them and then drive back took me… well, maybe 40 or 45 minutes. At the most! But it was all that it took. Even _less_ than an hour.

As soon as I parked in Ocella's garage, I knew immediately that someone had died. I entered the house by the kitchen door and I saw bloodstains everywhere (some of them still wet, some of them dripped). And the smell was incredibly intense. I could tell for sure, that there were two humans dead there. But I could also smell someone else's blood… A vampire's blood. It was my maker's. Ocella!

I immediately entered the living room and even though I could see in the dark, my hand went out to the wall switch. I flicked it down, flooding the room with light. I looked around and saw two human bodies. They looked like a couple in their thirties, but I couldn't be sure because they were drenched in blood. Who where those people? How the hell had they entered the house and been killed in even less than an hour? What the fuck had happened there?

I walked towards the middle of the room and that was when I saw him. Ocella. On the floor. He was bleeding from four silver bullets shots in his back. His wounds were trying to expel the silver, but he wasn't yet being successful in that. Instead, the four wounds were just left open and I could see my maker's skin silver-burning. And he was not alone. Alexei was also there. And, clichés apart, he was actually holding a smoking gun. The fucking kid had probably killed the humans and I'd have to be the one dealing with its consequences later on. And then, he had shot Ocella. I was mad in rage and I ran to him, all my hatred towards Ocella temporarily and quickly forgotten somehow. I was going to kill Alexei in two seconds. No, even less than that. I was going to disembody his arms and legs and then cut off his head from his body with my own hands in _one_ second. But then… I didn't.

And, suddenly, I knew why: in one of our talks when I had been trying to convince my maker to finally kill his youngest child, Ocella had told me that the decision was his and that I couldn't hurt or kill my brother. And he actually said it as an order, as a maker's command. And Ocella's authority was still in effect.

And so I knew that I wouldn't be able to do anything to Alexei – not even a little slap nor just push him towards a wall. A master's order is to be obeyed _always_ until it's told otherwise. Even if it is against the maker's well-being. So Alexei would, for now, be left unpunished. But as soon as Ocella would undo his command, then I'd be patient while hurting the little motherfucker. Yes, I'd take my time instead of killing him in just one second. He would be in pain for several nights until I'd give him the blessing of allowing him his final death.

But even if I couldn't get the world free from that little fucking bastard yet, I could at least heal Ocella. Not that we were that close… And Ocella's recent suggestions that he wanted to take Pam away with him and also that he wanted to taste Sookie had really bothered me. Or rather, his non-stop babbling about wanting to have _my_ child with him and sample _my_ wife had really troubled me. But he was my maker. He had been there for me for over a millennium. And he had given me eternal-life. And I somehow felt compelled to help him.

And so, I dropped to my knees next to his body. I turned him on his back and I was about to break the skin in my wrist to give him my blood, when Alexei shot me in the back too. I felt a huge pain in my upper back, and then a couple more in my lower back. The shooting pain travelled through my body and I felt my insides burning because of the silver. I should have taken the fucking gun from him before but I hadn't even thought about it. The whole thing had been so quick. It had only passed one or two minutes since I had parked, then entered the kitchen, then into the living room, where I saw first the dead humans, then Ocella, and finally Alexei. And my decision to help Ocella had only taken a second as well. All this happened in less than two minutes… I just… I hadn't even thought about taking the gun from him…

And then I felt another bullet hit my backside. This forth bullet was my perdition because then I felt the silver. And, as my maker before me, I also lay on the floor, bleeding, alongside him.

Alexei moved closer to us and stayed there just smiling at our bleeding wounds for a couple of minutes. I could feel the blood dripping over me, and making my drenched shirt glue to my skin. And I was also feeling the silver in me, preventing my healing, when I saw Alexei use a needle on Ocella and then on me. And _fuuuck_! It was liquid silver or some sort of silver nitrate. It fucking hurt. It burnt my insides. I stayed there in pain until I finally heard the motherfucker leaving while talking on the phone.

Now, here's something we don't want the public to know: vampires _can_ recover from silver bullets and shots of liquid silver. But we prefer that that detail isn't common knowledge because it hurts like a motherfucker. However the main reason why we want to keep it a secret is that it keeps humans calmer. Why? Because humans feel safer knowing that they can (in theory) kill us with just a silver bullet, when in reality, we _can_ pull through it. And the thing is: if the humans feel calmer and safer, they don't see _us_ as a threat and _we _are safer as well.

But there's a catch: even though we might not die from it like weres do, it's still really hard to recuperate from such a bullet, especially when the silver is still in our body _and_ we were shot with silver nitrate too.

And that was why, almost an hour later, when the humans got there, they were able to put both me and Ocella in some kind of hospital beds and keep us there with even more silver on our hands and feet.

Being much older, and because he had had more time than I had to heal because he had been shot first, Ocella managed to escape when they were putting us in their ambulance van. But I did not.

And even though I knew that Ocella's evasion was in theory good for me because I was certain that he'd go back to get me, I wasn't sure that Ocella would even survive the night. He had lost too much blood and there was still too much silver in him and so he was very hurt and weak. And anyone would be able to get to him that way. And so, I felt I was on my own. It would be up to me to get free from those humans.

I was then moved to some kind of facility in a warehouse a little over an hour away. They kept the silver bullets inside me and also the silver handcuffs on my arms and legs. It hurt like a motherfucker. But even worse than the pain, was the smell of my own flesh burning because of all the silver they used to secure me and the bullets that were still _in_ me.

I was left in a room, tied with silver to the wall, and they closed the door so I wouldn't see them walking around the warehouse. But I could still hear them. There were nine or ten humans there, two of them women.

And there I stayed, locked in silver while I listened to their voices discussing if they should kill me right there and then or not. They belonged to the "Fellowship of the Sun" and they knew who I was. The "bars' businessman", they called me. But eventually, they decided to kill me in two days time when some hot-shot of the Fellowship was to visit Louisiana. And then they kept talking about what clothes I would wear and whether I would meet the sun or be staked... One of them wanted to cut my arms off at my elbows to see if they'd grow back immediately or not, other was saying that they should take my eyes out because I might see their faces and then somehow send that image to other vampires and so on. In due course, they decided that I should be dressed all in black so the blood from my wounds wouldn't be easily seen and that I would meet the sun and be burnt to death but not tortured or hurt. "Y'all don't want the witnesses to think that y'all are barbaric and kept hurting him, no siree. Let's keep his wounds hidden and then just kill him at dawn, with God's mighty sun, and that's it," their apparent leader finally said.

A couple of hours later, I died for the day.

The next night, when the sun set I was exactly like the night before – same room, same wounds and same fucking silver handcuffs. I felt a little better after my day rest but because of the silver, my wounds hadn't healed yet. But even though silver was then the worst part of my life, there _was_ a _silver_ lining that I could see. Or rather: feel. And it was Pam. Yes, the best part of waking up that night was that I could feel that Pam was much closer. And that was good. No, that was excellent. Pam had come back to the United States even though I hadn't called her to say that she should. Thank the Gods, I hadn't _commanded_ her to leave, but instead just suggested it to her. She had probably felt me and thought that she was needed here. And damn, she was right. And that knowledge alone gave me strength because I was sure that my child would help me. No doubt.

I stayed there for a couple more hours plotting my revenge. I was extremely angry and I knew I just needed a little break from the silver handcuffs before I could leave and kill everyone: the Fellowship guys _and_ Alexei. As soon as the silver tying me would be off, my body would finally expel the bullets and nurse itself back to normal. And then my healing would be complete by drinking dry all those pathetic humans who had been discussing my final death. And finally, I'd deal with Alexei.

And all of a sudden, I felt Pam's anger as well. Now she knew. Now she'd help. Pam was indeed the best child I could have and I was extremely proud of her. She would get me out of there and then we'd both kill all those fuckers together.

However, as quickly as it showed up, Pam's anger left her. And then, I started to really worry when her anger was replaced by defeat and fear. Why was she afraid? Of whom? Had Pam been made a prisoner by the Fellowship of the Sun as well? She wasn't near the same compound where I was, at least, she didn't feel like she was there, but maybe she had lost some blood too and our bond wasn't working right…?

Suddenly, I was freed from my thoughts by strange noises in the warehouse. Or, more specifically, by fighting noises outside the bedroom where I was locked. And then I smelled it. Blood. Human blood. Both the noise and the smell increased and I felt him close by. It was my maker that was rescuing me. And then, soon, everything was quiet all at once.

I saw the door of my jail being opened by a glamoured human and I saw my maker behind that human. Ocella looked like shit, but he was obviously still strong enough to get me free. He told the human to open my handcuffs and offer me her blood. I drank a lot, and I was about to break her neck when Ocella prevented me from killing the woman.

"I've killed most of them already, let's leave the rest alive so they know who they were messing with," he said. I nodded and dropped the bleeding woman to the floor. She immediately tried to close the fang-wounds in her neck with her hands. Fucker! I had recognized her voice from the night before – she had tried to convince the others to cut off my tongue before they killed me so I wouldn't scream when I'd be burnt alive. My most primal instincts were screaming at me to end her, but I just left her laying on the floor while she screamed about her neck wounds.

We left that fucking room and I was able to see clearly the place where I had been kept. The warehouse unmistakably showed that a fight had taken place there, and I could see eight dead bodies and a two injured humans.

Suddenly, I felt a burning pain in my back. Several burning pains in my back. But those were good. Yes, I was feeling much better. I was feeling much stronger because the woman's blood had finally given me the necessary sustenance for my body to force out the silver bullets. And that had been the reason for those burning pains in my back. My body was expelling the silver from its inside, and even though I felt the pain, I knew that as soon as the bullets would leave my back, then I'd recover. Yes, I was _indeed_ feeling much stronger. And so was my anger. I wanted to kill everyone that was still alive there. Kill them all!

But Ocella kept his "no killing anyone else" policy and so we left them highly glamoured (so they wouldn't follow us soon nor remember what vampires had been there) but alive.

"Pam's back", I told Ocella when we were entering his car, "but there's a problem. I can tell. Did you hear something in the warehouse about another vampire prisoner when you arrived? She might have been caught by the Fellowship as well."

"No. It wasn't the humans that got Pamela."

"Then who?"

"It's Alexei."

"I'm sure that she is stronger than him." And I really was. I knew that Pam could snap his neck in a couple of minutes.

"But she can't kill or even fight him because of my command to you."

Fuck. He was right. I hadn't thought about it but that was the truth. Because I was under Ocella's order, Pam (who had to obey to me) was under my maker's control too. It was a sort of a safety measure so children who hated their makers wouldn't make children themselves and order them to kill their makers – then the maker only had to give a "don't kill me" command to his children and then the children's children would automatically be bonded to obey too.

Fucking Ocella and his "I'm so much stronger than you" ideas… He hadn't ever told me to _not_ kill him because he had always been so sure that I would never succeed in doing it. Not even when he knew that I hated him with all my strength. And I guessed that he hadn't given that command to Alexei either… Fuck!

We had to find the fucker and make him pay. He could be anywhere now, killing humans at random... "So unleash your command Ocella. Alexei is a threat. To humans, to me, to you. We must find him and kill him. I know he is yours, but you must recognize how dangerous he is to everyone. He must be killed."

And then, finally, he said the words: "You are right my child. As painful as it is, we must kill him. I rescind my command. You are free to fight and kill Alexei."

"And is Pam as well?"

"Yes. Her inability to hurt him only existed because you couldn't hurt him either. But she doesn't know that now. She has tried before and she wasn't able to fight him."

"She'll keep trying. I know she will." I was driving as fast as possible and at that speed we would be back to Shreveport in 20 minutes or so, rather than the over one hour that had taken the humans to drive me to warehouse. "Where are they? Can you tell for sure?" I asked. Even though I had drunk a lot of blood, I was still kind of recovering from the silver and I knew that Ocella would feel Alexei much better than I would feel Pam.

"In your house," the car couldn't run faster but I tried to increase its velocity either way, "with your wife," he added. And, for the first time in a week I didn't hear contempt or disdain when he called Sookie my wife. There was just sadness in his voice. Ocella was already mourning Alexei.

I, on the other hand, was fuelled with anger and bloodlust. Leaving the Fellowship of the Sun people alive was something against my nature, against my most basic instincts. I really thought they should die because of what they had attempted to do to me and the pain they had made me go through during my night of captivity. They had kept me bleeding and silver-burning for over 24 hours and they were planning my death already. Yes, I really felt that I was entitled to my revenge. But Ocella had made me leave them alive. Well, Alexei wouldn't be that lucky. And if he had touched a single one of Sookie's hair… Well, if he had, then he would die screaming and hurting like the motherfucker he was. I wouldn't allow him a quick death unless Sookie and Pam were unharmed.

As soon as I parked the car, I ran to my house and up the stairs. I entered my bedroom and saw that Alexei was already dead next to the bathroom door and Pam was sitting on the bed hugging a crying and in-shock Sookie, whose clothes were blooded.

"What happened? What happened? Are you okay?" I asked straight away.

I was really nervous then. And anxious to see if Sookie was all right. She was covered in blood, but I smelled it and I recognized that it was Alexei's blood. And there was a stake next to her. I grabbed Sookie's arms and made her stand on her feet while I checked her body. There were fang marks in her neck but that was it. My presence made her stop crying and she immediately hugged me. I asked her again if she was okay and she answered that she was fine.

"She killed him Eric," Pam started saying, "I tried to but I couldn't. And then the fucker attacked me. And I couldn't even defend myself. Alexei almost killed me because I couldn't fight back. But because he was focused on hurting me, Sookie was able to stake him."

I hugged Sookie even closer to me. My anger had left me by then, substituted by some kind of thankful feeling. I was thankful that she seemed all right and that she had saved my child as well. And I was proud of both Pam (who had felt me in London and came back when she had to) and Sookie (who had proved once more that she was as strong as any of us).

And then I heard Ocella's scream. He had entered the bedroom that moment and saw Alexei's remains. He kneeled and cried blood tears for his child. Sookie turned around and hid her face on my chest again because she was incapable of watching such a sorrowful display.

"My son! My son! My son!" Ocella kept screaming in Russian.

Sookie didn't need to see a father crying for the son _she_ had killed and so I turned around with her towards the door. I wanted to take her to my room in the basement, clean her and then rest with her. I wanted peace and quiet. But Ocella kept screaming "my son, my son." Until he added something else, still in Russian. He said: "An insignificant human killed you, my son."

Then, in a second, I felt hatred from Ocella. Since he had entered the bedroom and until that moment, he had been full of a deep grief and distress. But then the hatred burst inside him. And he hated Sookie. He was going to kill her. I immediately tried to shield her from my maker with my own body. I would finally die for Sookie if I had to, but I'd sure try to protect her from Ocella. And while I did it, I also felt and heard him approaching my back, so he could get to her.

And then, there was pain. Physical pain. I immediately stopped holding Sookie and doubled over at that huge pain. But it wasn't mine. I turned away and saw Ocella's body already flaking away at my feet, much more quickly than that of his younger son. And I also saw Pam who was standing there with a bloody stake in her right hand.

"He was going to kill you and Sookie. He was. I know he was," she mumbled.

I felt a huge soreness inside me. My maker's bond with me was no more. And it pained me even more than the silver that I had been shot with the previous night. I looked at Pam and for a second I thought about punishing or even killing her for giving me that huge pain and that emptiness. She had ended my maker. But instead, I just sat on the bed staring at the blood pounds that had been my maker and his son on the floor.

Okay, yes. I know that I am arrogant, quick thinking, strong willed, secretive and tricky… among _other_ things. But then, knowing that my child had killed my sire, I just felt indecisive and hopeless. I dropped my head to my hands.

"Ocella taught me everything about being a vampire," I said quietly, "he taught me how to feed, how to hide, when it was safe to mingle with humans. He taught me how to make love with men and later freed me to make love with women. He protected me and loved me. He caused me pain for decades. He gave me life. My maker is dead," I could scarcely believe it. I didn't know how to feel. My eyes lingered on the crumbling mass of flakes that had been Appius Livius Ocella.

"Yes," Pam said, "he is. And I did it. And I'm sorry Eric. But I just knew he was going to attack you and Sookie and…"

I felt from her how sorry she was. But Pam was just sorry for me. For my pain. She still thought she had done the right thing because she loved me. I had always known how important I was to Pam. Every maker is important to his child. But in that moment I knew Pam really loved me more than herself and that she would do anything for me. Hell, she killed a vampire almost ten times her age… for me. The chances of her actually succeeding in killing Ocella had been extremely low, and I knew that she had only managed it because Ocella had been so focused on his pain and hatred that he hadn't even considered Pam's feelings or actions. And I was sure that Pam also knew how miniscule her odds had been. But she had tried it nonetheless. For me.

I got up, kissed her forehead and said: "I know. And I thank you." And it was then that I looked at her, and I saw her wounds. She had been stabbed several times. I looked at her stomach, "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm almost recovered. Thank you."

"Good. Now please deal with this mess here," she nodded and I continued talking, "and at Ocella's too. He rented Mansur's house next to the courthouse. There's a mess there too. I'm going downstairs with Sookie now."

I walked to Sookie and saw that she was still by the door next to Ocella's remains. I hoped she wasn't traumatized somehow... I put my arm around her shoulders and we went to my room in the basement.

Sookie had killed Alexei and Pam had killed Ocella. Shit! I feared Sookie's reaction to Alexei's death. She had killed him and I knew that it wasn't something she'd deal with easily. I feared my own reaction to Ocella's death. He had been my maker and even thought he had caused me much pain, he had also been my father for over a millennium. And I feared Adelaide's reaction to Ocella's death too. She was his sister, and even though she was kind and almost his opposite, they had been together for over 1200 years. I feared the next night. And my future. But above all, I feared that I wasn't myself because I was scared for all that. And up until recently, I hadn't ever been scared of anything.

As soon as we got to my basement's room, I closed the room, turned on all its seven locks and also the alarm. Without Lizzie at home, Sookie would stay there with me. Yes, not Sookie or I would be leaving there until the next night. The dawn was still several hours away, but we'd both stay there for almost 24 hours. I needed to be with Sookie. I needed to be _locked in safety_ with Sookie. Those last 30 hours had been too scary for me. The mere thought of losing Sookie… It terrified me.

Besides, there was a bathroom in the basement floor; and there was also a phone and a TV there; as well as a small fridge with human food besides my blood if she'd wake up during the day. But I hoped that she wouldn't. I hoped that she'd sleep the whole day on my arms.

We then showered and we went to the bed. We both dressed in one of my t-shirts and we laid and hugged for a few minutes.

I was feeling calmer then. Slightly calmer. And with Sookie safe in my arms, I felt even better. Slightly better. But I was still afraid of our future. I needed assurance. And it was Sookie's job to give it to me. I didn't care about what she thought… She _had_ to make me better. She had to. I wasn't feeling myself. I was… almost distressed or traumatized. I was still so fucking scared of the simple possibility of being away from Sookie… Yeah, it terrified me alright.

"Tell me you're mine," I whispered a few minutes after we were in bed.

She raised her head from my chest and looked me in my eyes. "What?"

"You heard me. Tell me you're mine. Tell me you'll stay with me forever."

"Eric… you know I don't have forever. But I'll stay with you for now and…"

"Cut the crap Sookie," I interrupted her, "say the words. I'm not talking about turning you. I just need to know that you belong to me."

"I do."

"Say the words."

Still looking me in the eyes, she said: "I love you. I don't want anyone else. I just want you. I am yours."

I nodded and her lips lightly brushed mine before she dropped he head on my chest again. I hugged her even closer to me and I heard her whisper: "I've been yours since that week you spent in my house in Bon Temps. I've loved you since then."

"And I love you," I answered.

We kept hugging in silence for a while and then, with her head still on my chest and without looking at me, she whispered for a second time: "But Eric, I don't have forever."

I couldn't accept it. And I silently refused to accept it by keeping my mouth shut.

When I didn't answer, she whispered again: "I don't want to be a vampire."

"You've said it before," and she had. She had said it several times over the past year. And every time she said it, it pained me. But I had thought that we'd have time. But maybe we didn't. And besides, I wanted to feel her all the time, like I felt Pam, and I wanted Sookie to be strong and less fragile, so I wouldn't ever lose her.

"It's just that… Well, I love the sun, the day… And I'm sure that I wouldn't be the same person if I was a vampire. I'd probably hate myself and you wouldn't love me either if I hated myself."

"I've heard it too."

"I really don't want to be a vampire," she repeated.

"I know," I answered. And I did know that, even though I was still hopeful that she'd change her mind eventually. I would have to make her change her mind. We were so happy together… Why wouldn't she want it to last forever?

"And I'll keep getting older."

"I know that too."

"Okay," she finally whispered.

"Okay," I told her back, whispering as well.

And those were the last words we spoke to each other that night. Then, Sookie and I just kept hugging until dawn while we heard Pam dealing with everything upstairs. And during all that time I could almost feel Sookie's brain thinking and over-thinking everything – Alexei's death, Ocella's death and maybe even _her_ death.

But I understood her need to think about all that because, at that moment, I was wondering about the same things myself. And yet again, I felt thankful that she couldn't hear my thoughts. Why? Because I was actually thinking about the possibility of turning her. Even against her will.

I wouldn't let her be taken from me again. _No one _would take her away for me again. _No one._ Not my maker, not the fairies , not anyone. Not even death itself. Sookie would either change _her mind, _or I would change _her_. But sooner or later, she _would_ be my immortal wife rather than my human wife. And of that, I was sure.

I would much rather deal with her ramblings against me and my actions and my high-handedness than deal with her death. I knew that it might be hard at first, but she would eventually forgive me, because then I would have forever to atone to her and make her pardon me. And I've always been a "rather to ask for forgiveness than permission" kind of guy. Yes, Sookie would either change _her mind, _or I would change _her_ nonetheless.

And then it was day. And then we both slept.

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**So, in complaisance with many reviews, Ocella and Alexei are both finally dead. :) And you'll understand better what happened next chapter, with a Pam's POV about how she and Sookie managed to escape and kill Alexei. But what about this chapter? Did you enjoy it? Was it character-like? And what about those last Eric's thoughts? Would you like a vampire Sookie? Or not so much? Anyway, reviews are welcome and appreciated! Célia**

**Blaze of Glory is Jon Bon Jovi's first solo album, released in 1990 (btw, the song "Blaze of Glory" is one of my favorites) and it includes the song "Dyin' Ain't Much of a Livin". The video clip is lovely and its chorus goes this way: **_**"Dyin' ain't much of a livin' / When you're livin' on the run / Dyin' ain't much of a livin' / For the young / Is it too late to ask for forgiveness / For the things that I have done? / Dyin' ain't much of a livin' / For the young"**_


	33. If That's What It Takes

**This chapter explains a little better what happened when both Alexei and Ocella died. I hope it clarifies things for you. And I also hope that you'll think that this is Pam-like. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and **_**bom fim-de-semana **_**(that's "have a nice weekend" in Portuguese). Oh, and **_**pleeeeease**_** review. Célia**

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**Pam "If That's What It Takes"**

He had bitten Sookie. He had hurt _my maker_. He had called the fuckers from the Fellowship of the Sun to get Eric. _And_ he was fucking smiling because he had done all that. But he wouldn't smile for much longer. Oh no, he would not. I'd kill him. And I'd kill the bastard quickly so I could go and get Eric out from those Fellowship bastards.

"You motherfucker. I'll kill you," I said looking at Alexei, "Right now," I then added right before I started walking towards the teenager-looking vampire. And he truly looked like a teen with his baggy pants and sneakers. But the worst was his extra long Justin Bieber t-shirt. And the picture on the t-shirt was of a _teenager_ Justin Bieber, not the thirty-something guy he was now. What the hell? Why would he dress that way?

Before Eric had sent me to England, every time I had seen Alexei he was wearing regular jeans and t-shirts. Not this "true teen" ensemble. Maybe he had just stolen it from someone? Or he just didn't care? Well, I guess it could be worse… He could be wearing a Hannah Montana t-shirt, instead. I smiled for a couple of seconds picturing him in a _pink _Hannah Montana t-shirt… Or better yet: picturing him in a _pink_ Hannah Montana t-shirt _drenched in blood_. Drenched in _his own _blood… because he would be dying. Right then and there.

Yeah, I'd totally kill the motherfucker right then and there.

But then I stopped. Fuck. I tried to keep walking and I couldn't. What the hell? I whispered an "I…" but then I shut up. What would I say? 'I' what? I then tried to move my hands to Alexei and I couldn't do it either. Another whispered "I…" left my lips without any other word following it. I took a step back without any problem, but when I tried again to walk towards him, I froze. I _still_ couldn't. Fuck. What the hell?

Before, I had thought that he was smiling and that I'd take that smile away from his face. But apparently, _he_ had been the one who had taken _my _smile away. I tried again to walk in Alexei's direction without avail. What…?

"I can't," I finally said. It was as if I was paralyzed.

Alexei laughed. Now he was not only smiling. He was laughing. I was trying _yet again_ to move my arms towards him, without success, when he said: "You are Eric's child. He was told by Master to not hurt me. It was an order. So you can't hurt me either. You can't kill me. Hell, you can't even fight me. Not even to defend yourself."

Huh?

And then it hit me. He was right. That immobility truly felt like when Eric gave me an order. And Ocella's order had been: "do not hurt Alexei."

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

And that was when I saw Alexei putting on a leather glove and taking a silver knife from his pocket. And then his other hand grabbed a stake from the same back pocket. Fuck that pocket. Fuck Alexei. Fuck all that.

I looked at Sookie and she was terrified. And I guessed she had good reasons to be. And the truth was: I was terrified as well.

"You know what?" he kept saying, "now that I'm thinking of it, I guess that I hate you too."

Fuck! I was dead. Dammit. He'd kill me. "You do?" I managed to ask. I had decided that I needed a few more moments to think about what to do. And I'd only get those moments, if he kept talking.

"Yeah. Not as much as I hate Ocella obviously, but I kind of hate you as well," the little fucker added. And he truly had angry, hatred eyes. I had no doubt that he was serious about his claim. He did hate me. But he also hated himself, and everything and everyone else on top of that.

"And why is that?" I asked him while I tried to prevent him from hearing the fear I was feeling in my voice. Maybe if I could keep him talking to me, someone might come in and do what I couldn't and just kill the motherfucker…

I looked at Sookie again. She was still by the bed and she still looked horrified. No wonder… I then thought about her for a quick second… I'd bet that she was cursing again her telepathy and the fact that it brought her to the vampires' attention 13 years before.

Meanwhile, and totally oblivious of Sookie, Alexei kept talking: "Your maker likes you, he treats you well and he protected you from Master. Master would definitely make hell seem like a vacation to you if Eric hadn't sent you away like he did last week."

"And you hate me because Eric treats me well?"

He unnecessarily took a deep breath. "I envy you," he then said. Or rather, he almost whispered with a sad voice. Fuck! What was that? What _the hell_ was that? A "Dr Phill" program or some other shitty 4 pm TV program for the stay-at-home housewives? And was Alexei playing the part of the poor teenager boy who didn't get along with his father and wished he had been born in another family? Hell! He sure dressed for the part. The fucker was crazy.

But he was actually giving me an idea. Another family… Humm… That was a stupid idea… A _fucking_ stupid idea… But stupid or not, I had to try it because I was fucking unable to kill the bastard and powerless to even defend myself.

"That doesn't mean you have to kill me," I told him.

"Yeah, it actually does," he said easily and with as much certainty about it as if he was talking about how vampires drink blood and are burned by the sun. If I had told him that our fangs didn't mean that we drink blood, he'd truly answer me with the same voice and the same words.

"It doesn't," I said again right before I tried out my idea, "besides, I hate Ocella too. And I can help you to get free from him. Hell, even Eric will help you too. He doesn't really like Ocella either. Between the three of us, we can finally kill him. So what do you say?"

He looked at me as if I had said the stupidest thing in the world. And I guess I had. He didn't answer me and I used his silence to keep talking to him, "Listen, you, me and Eric will kill Ocella and then you can stay with us here, we'll be your new family. You know Eric treats me well. He'll treat you well too; we'll both care about you. Just the three of us, taking care of each other. Or, if you want, you can leave and go away because then you'll be your own. You'll be free," he was still staring at me, "okay?"

And then I too, took an unnecessary deep breath, while Alexei kept not talking and just looking at me strangely. And then he smiled. And for a second there I thought that my stupid plan had worked. But then he _kept_ smiling and I saw it. His fangs. Fuck. He wasn't smiling because he liked my suggestion. He was smiling because of its stupidity. Fuck. So, through his already out fangs, Alexei then spoke: "I know I look like a child. But I am not."

Oh. Fuck indeed. Fuck, fuck, fuck. It had been a stupid idea, I knew that. But what else could I say? How do you prevent someone who's determined to kill you from doing so? Well, you fight him. But I couldn't fight him either. So what the hell was I supposed to do, rather than try any stupid idea that came to my mind?

And seconds later, I was finally sure that it hadn't worked at all, and that it had indeed been a very stupid idea when Alexei said: "And for that pathetic excuse to change my mind, I'll hurt you for a while before I kill you. And soon you'll see how _not _a child I am. No child would ever even conjure up even half the pain I'm going to give you."

He then dropped his stake to the floor (the one he had been intended to use on me), put on his other glove and moved his silver knife from his right to his left hand. I guess he was a left-handed guy. And then he suddenly stabbed me in my stomach. And damn, it burnt and it hurt, even when he took the knife out of my body again, it kept burning and hurting. A fucking stab to your stomach is fucking painful. Hell, it really did hurt! And I could feel the blood running out of me... Fuck! I knew that my body was already trying to close the wound and recover itself but damn… it definitely hurt.

Abruptly, he then stabbed me again. Twice. This time it was my upper leg. He left the knife in me the second time. I fell to the floor in pain (in fucking unbelievable pain) and I tried to take the knife from my leg. But because it was made of silver I only managed to burn my hand too.

Alexei's gloved hand was able to take the knife from my leg though. And as quickly as when he stabbed me, he then started kicking me. Shit. That was really a sadistic fucker. He wouldn't only kill me. He'd stab and kick me until I'd almost die from blood loss before he'd finally stake me. Shit!

Meanwhile, I was still trying to fight the compulsion to not hurt him back. But it was worthless. I'd never manage to overcome Ocella's command to Eric. I felt the silver knife again and I screamed with the burning sensation on my back and then more his foot hit violently (and several times) into my still-open stomach's wound. Then, I felt the knife leaving my lower back and I was wondering where I'd be stabbed with it again when Alexei himself fell to the floor next to me, crying in pain.

I tried to get up and even though I couldn't yet stand, I manage to see a stake in Alexei's back. A stake? The fucker screamed one last time and started decomposing right away.

"Are you okay? Pam? Pam?" Sookie's voice brought me back to reality. Sookie! _She _had killed Alexei with his own stake that he had dropped because he had decided that he want to torture me for a while before he killed me. Sookie!

Not that I was all that amazed because I knew that she had it in her but… Wow…! The little blondie was really something else. She had killed yet another vampire. First Lorena and now Alexei. What a feature for a small human woman like herself.

"Thanks," I told her.

"Can you get up? Do you need my blood to heal?"

I did. But I didn't know how to tell her that. Besides, she was Eric's and Alexei had drunk from her already, and I knew that Eric wouldn't like it if I drink from Sookie as well. Eric! Suddenly I remembered that he was still with the Fellowship guys. Fuck! We had to go there. I could still feel him angry and in pain. I had to get better and get him out of there as soon as possible. And that thought gave me the words to accept her offer of blood: "I do. I have to recover so we'll get Eric."

"Yes, yes you do. Take," she answered and almost put her wrist in my mouth. I tried to keep it painless and I bit into her. I took only two mouthfuls of blood but I felt immediately better. Yes, Eric was right. Sookie's blood was delicious and very powerful. I licked her wound to close it.

"Just that? Don't you need more?"

I _wanted _more, but I didn't _need_ more. And she was Eric's, so I said, "No. That's enough. I'm feeling much better already. Thank you, Sookie. Now, let's go to Eric and…" I shut up because I immediately felt him through our maker-child bond. I put my hand on my chest by my unbeating heart and I sat on the bed.

"What? Pam? What is it?"

"Eric."

"Oh my God. Did he die? Did he die?" she almost screamed in a panic voice.

"No, he's okay."

With her face still conveying her panic, Sookie said: "What? He's okay?"

"He's drinking someone and he's feeling much better. I think… I think he escaped."

"He did?"

I closed my eyes and didn't answer her for a couple of minutes or so. I focused on my bond with my maker. Eric was indeed feeling much better, and I could tell he was safe again. And even more: he was determined to come to Sookie.

"Yes, he escaped. And I bet he's coming here right now," I finally answered her, "We… we should stay here. We don't have to do anything but wait for him."

As soon as I said those words, Sookie immediately sat next to me and started crying. Wait: crying? But why would she? During our whole ordeal with Alexei she had been so strong… She had been fierce and courageous. Why would she be leaking now? Humans! Even though I had briefly been one, I'd never understand them. But even though she was now behaving like a crying baby, she _had_ been strong and fierce before. So I guessed she deserved her little freak-out and I just hugged her like Eric usually did whenever Sookie would be upset about something. I even rubbed my hands on her back, just like Eric.

"He was just a boy…" she whispered five or ten minutes later, right in the middle of her crying.

I grabbed her face and moved it towards my eyes so we could look each other and then, with very deliberate words and a serious voice tone, I said: "No. He was not. He was an old vampire, and he was a murderer who was trying to kill me and who had killed many people before. And you did the world a favor by getting rid of that crazy fucker. You did what you had to do. He was mad and murderous. You listen to me, Sookie! You saved me. You saved yourself. It was self-defense. You did nothing wrong. Okay?"

Still crying, she nodded to me and moved her head again to my shoulder, so we could keep hugging.

And there we stayed, with me hugging her in her bed (and feeling the painful wounds closing) and Sookie crying nonstop while we waited for Eric. And, like I had foreseen, less than half an hour later, Eric got there and immediately took Sookie from my arms and then he made sure she was okay. He hugged her exactly like I was doing up until then. And she, _almost immediately,_ stopped crying.

And at that very moment, I had a thought about how it didn't matter how you hug (I had hugged Sookie exactly like Eric was doing, but she only stopped crying with him), and that the important part of the hug itself, was that the one who'd be hugging would be the one you would want a hug from. And… fuck! I realized immediately that that was cheesy. And _so _not me. Damn! What the hell was wrong with me? But then again, maybe I could just quit the bars, move back to England, buy a cottage next to a small village and live pacifically (and especially without anyone trying to kill me) and start writing cheesy romantic books instead?

Anyway, I told Eric how brave she had been and he started moving her away from there when his maker got in. And that was, more or less, when the Roman vampire saw Alexei's body. He then immediately ran there and dropped to his knees next to it.

So… Ocella was babbling in some language while trying to hug the fucking remains of the recently deceased vampire (hell, _that _hug wouldn't do anyone any good). Eric was almost at the door with Sookie (still hugging her while she hugged him back). And I was left with crying "grandpa" in the room (unhugged and without any desire to change that status).

And that was when I felt it.

Appius Livius was going to finally kill Eric so that he could drink Sookie dry. And I felt it crystal clear. For instance, I knew that, deep down, he didn't want to fight Eric. He truly didn't want to fight, let alone kill, Eric. But Ocella also knew that killing Eric would be the only way to kill Sookie. Even if he prohibited Eric from fighting him back, Ocella knew (he felt, as I did) that Eric would not stop until someone else killed Ocella. We all felt that through the blood bonds. Eric would go to hell and back if he had to, in order to keep Sookie safe or to avenge her death. And now, for Sookie, Eric would be killed by his own maker.

I couldn't allow that. I loved Eric too much to allow that. And in a micro-instant, I decided. I'd kill Ocella myself so he wouldn't kill Eric. I knew it was dangerous. It was fucking, incredibly, stupidly dangerous. But if that was what it took, then that was what I would do. Ocella was almost 2000 years old and I was just a little over 200. And I knew that if he wanted, he would be able to feel my resolution about killing him, and if he did feel it, then he'd just have to turn around and kill me. And I also knew that he would be able to do it in a split of a second. But I was confident that he was way too much preoccupied with his own sorrow and hatred to acknowledge me. Or so I hoped.

And that was why I risked my own life and I tried to stake Ocella. And… I managed it. I did.

I actually managed to finally kill my maker's 2000 year-old maker. Wow. I couldn't even believe that I had been successful. I guess it was my micro-instant decision that didn't allow Ocella any time to feel me approach him. Because as soon as I decided that to prevent Ocella from killing Eric, I'd die if I had to, I immediately saw Alexei's stake (the same one that he had intended to use on me but that had ultimately been his own murder weapon) still by the bed. I quickly grabbed it and without even a second thought about it, I jumped and I killed Ocella. And I actually felt the wood enter his flesh and penetrate his heart. Wow _indeed_…

Well, I had already killed several humans in my life, the occasional were and even a quite a few vampires. But killing Eric's maker had been a whole new experience. A fucking whole new experience. And Ocella had been so old… I suddenly realized that I hadn't _truly_ thought that I'd be victorious in my attempt to finally kill Ocella. I had only felt that he was going to kill Eric, and I had decided that I needed to do something to avoid it, no matter what. Eric was my entire family and he meant everything to me. He had been there for me for more than two hundred years and I would do anything to prevent his final death.

I was still kind of high because of my blood lost (the stabbing wounds were almost closed then, but I had lost too much blood), and all that had happened since then (like killing a vampire ten times my age), when suddenly, I realized that something was wrong. Very wrong.

First, I felt an emptiness inside me that was painful (as my maker's maker, Ocella's blood was also part of me, so this death emptied something in me and it hurt me – bad!) and then a great sadness and fury. But those weren't my sadness or fury. They were Eric's. And if the way he was looking at me and Ocella's body was some indication, it was obvious that the grief was directed at Ocella and the wrath was directed at me.

And then, for one immensely long second I was really afraid of Eric. I was almost sure that he was going to kill me. But then, in a blink of an eye, he was undecided and helpless. For the first time ever, Eric didn't know what to do. And, neither did I.

But I knew what to say. I told him I was sorry. I tried to explain that I was just defending him. I even added Sookie's name hoping that Eric would see that I meant good. But he just sat there with his head on his hands.

When he looked at me again, I saw that he understood my actions and I felt much better. He then quickly went downstairs with Sookie and left me there. I looked around me and saw that whole mess. It would be up to me to deal with it.

I looked at my Cartier watch, cleaned Ocella's blood from it with my tailored shirt and saw that it was still almost six hours until dawn. So much had happened already, but the night was still a child. Wow! Second cheesy but book-like thought of the night… Maybe I should _really_ consider my writing vein; it would beat dealing with a couple of bloody and filthy rooms with dead bodies in it, for sure.

I grabbed my purse and my cell phone and I called a vampire cleaning service based midway between Shreveport and Baton Rouge, the Fangster Cleanup. We always used those guys. They were quick, discrete and efficient. I described the problem and gave them both addresses – Eric's and Mansur's (where apparently Ocella had been staying).

While I waited for them, I thought about showering and changing but I was too tired even for that. And besides, they had told me on the phone that they'd be there in half an hour. And I needed a long bath, not a quick shower. So instead I just washed my face and my hands.

And as soon as the Fangster Cleanup guys showed up, they started to work. Five hours later, they left Eric's house (it was as if nothing had happened there, except for the cleaning products' smell) and told me that Ocella's rented house was spotless as well. I paid them (including the extra and expensive fee regarding the disposal of two human bodies that apparently were at Ocella's) and drove home.

My clothes and hair were awfully blooded because of Alexei and Appius Livius. When both of them died, parts of their bodies had "flown" onto me. Damn them! Their blood had destroyed a lovely shirt. I then showered for a long time – I even managed to stay awake almost an hour after the sunrise, which was a first – and then I died for the day.

The next night, something as strange as staying awake after sunrise happened again. You see, I was not old enough to wake up before the sunset either, and I hardly ever did. But that evening, I did wake up almost an hour before I should. I guess I was worried about Eric and his reaction to Ocella's final death.

I was already dressed and ready to go (because I had woken up so early) and so, I left my place as soon as the sun was down. I was driving to Eric's when he called me on the phone.

"How are you Pam?"

"I'm fine. How are you Eric?"

"I am all right."

"Listen Eric, I'm driving there to meet you now. I wanted to say I'm sorry about Ocella. I know how you felt about him. I guess I didn't think about it. I just wanted to keep him from killing you."

"I know. Everything is all right Pam. I thank you for your help yesterday. Sookie told me how you freed her right before Alexei arrived to drink her dry. You did what you had to do then. And you did what you had to do after too… with Ocella."

I felt an immense relief. Eric understood me and he sounded normal. Actually, his voice was almost (almost!) cheerful. And I was thankful for that because even though Eric hardly ever talked about his time with Ocella, he did talk about him on occasion. And I knew that Ocella had been an ass during their first time together, but then they had become somewhat friends. And the pain of feeling your maker die... Damn it! If I had felt Ocellas's death and been in pain because of it the previous night, I could only imagine what Eric had felt… I wished I'd never have to feel it. And so, I could only be relieved and thankful that Eric sounded alright.

"I'm glad that you see things that way," I answered him. And I truly was.

"I do. Now Pam: I'm leaving with Sookie tonight. We are driving to Tennessee to pick up Liz. And then we'll stay a few days just the three of us site seeing."

"Okay."

"I need you to keep a watch on everything for me. There are many things to deal with because I haven't been frequently at the bars since Ocella came back and you left to England."

"Don't worry about a thing Eric. I'll take care of the whole thing."

"And you should probably call Adelaide. Tell her about… what happened."

Right... Adelaide. She was the younger child of Ocella's maker. And now I had to tell her that I had finally killed her brother. "Will she… I mean, how do you think she'll react?"

"They were together for a long time. She loves Ocella. But she also knows… knew him better than anyone else. Tell her everything that happened and she'll understand what you did."

"Oh…"

"And you call me if you need me. I'm sure that Lai will understand, but call me if you have to, Pam." What he meant was: if you think that Lai will go there to kill you, tell me so. But he had also said that he thought that Adelaide would understand… Well, I only hoped that she did. First of all, I didn't want any problems with any older vampire, like Adelaide (she was more or less 1200 years old). And secondly, I liked Lai – she was great and I actually considered her a friend.

"I'll call her and I'll keep an eye on things."

"I know you will," he said and then he paused. I guess he was waiting for me to answer and when I didn't, he said, "Anyway, thank you. And we… we'll be back in a week or so."

"Of course. Take care, Eric."

"Sure. Oh, and Pam, I almost forgot. There's another thing: the four weres that were stationed at our place to protect Sookie are missing."

"Oh…" Yeah… The bodyguards… I had totally forgotten about them.

"Alexei told her two nights ago that he had glamoured and sent them away. I need you to find them and set them free if they are alive or deal with their pack and make financial reparations if they're dead."

"Don't worry. I'll deal with it."

"Thank you again Pam." And then he immediately hung up without letting me answer him.

I made a U-turn as soon as I could and started driving to Deadliest. I wasn't yet there when I called on the phone Heidi, a vampire that had recently showed up in Shreveport saying that she was a tracker. I sent her to Eric's and told her to procure the smell of four were-wolves and find them or their bodies. She was to call me as soon as she'd find where they were. And then I kept driving.

As soon as I arrived at Deadliest, I called Adelaide. I told her everything that had happened, about Alexei and how Ocella had been in such a grief that he was going to finally kill Eric. I almost begged for her to understand that I had only intended to protect Eric. And then Adelaide just told me that she had felt it, but, at the time, she hadn't recognized what it had been. I told her that I was sorry for her lost over and over again. And finally, she just thanked me for calling her and ended the call without any other word.

I wondered if she would be coming to kill me to avenge her brother or if she was just grieving and things would be left like that. I hoped she'd be able to understand my actions.

And then, I started to work. I had been away in London and Cambridge for a little over one week and so, there was much to do. Besides, whenever Eric was away travelling, there was always even more work for me (and like he had told me, he hadn't been exactly right on top of things ever since Ocella had showed up)… So I could only envision the huge amount of work that there was to do...

We did have a manager in each bar, and there were obviously all the proprietors of the franchised bars, but it was Eric and I that managed the brands themselves and all that it concerned. And Clancy, Dahlia, Maxwell and Indira had tried to keep it running but there were many things that were beyond them. So, soon after I entered in my Deadliest's office, I saw that there was indeed tons of decisions to make and lots of stuff to either approve or censure or just comment on.

But I was feeling rested, free and happy. And, after my less-sleep-than-normal of the previous night, feeling rested would not properly be my expected feeling. So I guessed those were Eric's feelings. But I didn't care. I was happy for him. He was reacting the best way possible to Ocella's death. Besides, I was sure that a few days away with Sookie and Liz, taking it easy, would improve his mood quite a lot.

And I was right. And I even saw Eric's good mood just a few days after that because by Sunday they were back home and I was invited to go to their place Monday night. Apparently, Lizzie had a gift for me from Tennessee and she was eager to give it to me.

And that night, I saw my maker happy again because a little blond human child was on his lap, brushing his hair with her hands. So, apparently Ocella's death was already dealt with. _Good._ And Sookie looked happy too. Well, she actually looked quite normal. It was as if she hadn't killed Alexei the previous week. It really seemed like Sookie was more hard-core than before, and I was glad for her. So, it appeared that Alexei's death had also been dealt with. _Good_. And then there was Elizabeth: totally unknowing of what had happened and happy to be home again. _Good._

I left two hours later, felling good myself.

I was driving back to my place when I started thinking about Eric. He and Sookie had travelled a long road but everything was all right now ("travelled a long road" – that was _so_ book-material; I must really try to write something one of these nights). They had bonded and married, but then they had stayed apart for a decade only to be together for a little while before Alexei and Ocella tried to ruin it for them again. But they were okay now. I had seen them that night. They were happy together.

Yes, against all odds, they really did belong to each other. The old and once merciless vampire that looked down on all humans, and the young, human telepath that didn't want to have anything to do with vampires, _did_ belong together. And I hoped that they would get over all their eventual problems and be happy together. Because that was the way they should be. Together. Eric was really different when he was with Sookie. He was happier and he was a better vampire because of her. And even though I teased him about her and Lizzie, I was really glad for him. It had taken him more than one thousand years but he was finally happy now. I just hoped he'd continue that way. Both Eric and Sookie deserved it.

Not that I understood them. Because I didn't. Not at all. And I sure didn't understand their relationship. Not in a million years. And I was positive that I didn't understand their love either. I'd never even been close to feel half of that. But I was cheering for them. I truly was cheering for them and hoping that they'd be happy together. Like I said: they both deserved it.

But with their luck?

Somehow, I doubted it.

And turns out, I was right.

Because there was someone else that wouldn't understand Eric and Sookie's relationship either. But there would be no cheering them there. Actually, it would be quite the opposite.

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**Did you like the chapter? Was it in-character for Pam? And who is this "someone else" that won't understand Eric and Sookie? :) You know, this was supposed to be the last chapter, but I figured that I still have a couple of loose ends to tie up before the end. I hope you'll enjoy my next "mini-storyline". Célia**

**"If That's What It Takes" is a single from Bon Jovi's 1995 album "These Days". Because there were so many awesome songs in that album, "If That's What It Takes" was never a huge, undisputed hit, but I like the song very much. **_**"If that's what it takes, that's what I'd do / Tonight's the night, I'm gonna prove it to you / Do I have to break down, baby just to break through / If that's what it takes, that's what I'd do / If that's what it takes..."**_


	34. Lay Your Hands on Me

**Hi! There's a new chapter, the second in two days. However, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. This week I'll have three close friends from out of town visiting and I probably won't have time to write, because besides work, I'll be giving them the Lisbon's tour. But I'll try to write nonetheless. Anyway, there're some lemons ahead! I hope you'll enjoy the chapter. And please, don't forget to review. _Divirtam-se! _(that's "have fun" in Portuguese), Célia **

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**Sookie "Lay Your Hands On Me"**

That whole Ocella and Alexei episode had been dreadful. Dreadful.

I had killed someone who looked very much like a young boy. Just the "killing" part was atrocious, but on top of it, he had been a kid… Well, I knew that Alexei had been everything other than a child… But still… he had looked like one. And, do you know what it's like not to be able to trust your own eyes? To look at him and see a boy but knowing that he wasn't…? But somehow, I managed to overcome that. I forced myself to think over and over again how I was just protecting myself and Pam. And every time I looked at Liz, I felt again sure that I'd do anything to protect her from any kind of pain. Including the pain of losing her mother. And yes, eventually, I managed to overcome the Ocella and Alexei episode.

Eric had had issues with it too. At first, I thought that it was his maker's death… But then I realized that it was more than that. He was mainly worried about me. Yes, Eric had been really awkward for a couple of months or so after that… _incident_. He had wanted to be with me at all times… If I was to interview a new employee, for instance (my telepathy had granted me the "interviewer" job), he wanted to be there. If I was to go to the grocery store, he wanted to be there. If I was just to stay at home, he'd stay there too. But in time, and after those one or two strange months, Eric too went back to normal.

And I thought that we had finally gotten our chance at peace, quiet and happiness. But apparently, not yet. Because as soon as we were starting to get into our routine again, and right after both me and Eric had prevailed over what had happened, and we were (finally!) back into our normal selves again, there was this new thorn in our happy lives.

"And what should I do?" I asked Eric when he told me about it.

"You must at least call your ex-husband, Sookie."

"Do you really think that I should call David? What do I say? Or maybe… Should I go there instead?"

"Start by calling him. And say whatever you think you should say. You've lived with him for quite a while; you'll know what to say. And if it doesn't work, then you go to the airport and you fly there, or you drive there. But whatever you do, you must do it now. There's not much time and I know that you'll regret it if you don't do everything that you could have done."

Damn it. Eric was right. So I did call my ex-husband. And we talked for almost an hour on the phone. And he said that he wouldn't. He actually said that he wouldn't. And that was why I didn't fly there – because he said that he wouldn't. But apparently, I couldn't recognize David's lies any better than I had been able to, back when we were married and he was having an affair with a 21-years-old-girl. An affair that I only discovered when David himself, told me about it. And by then, his son from that relationship was already a few months old (and it had taken them a little more than one year to even get pregnant).

I guess that what I'm trying to say is that, yes, even though he said that he wouldn't, he did. And I didn't know that he would. I didn't recognize his lying tone…. _again_.

And Eric had been right, as usual. That Scully guy really was no kidding matter. He only did have to lay his hands on David once, and that was that. And so, less than a week after David had told me that he wouldn't, I received the phone call that I truly didn't want to receive. And then I had to talk to Liz about it and her sad face broke my heart. And even worst: we had to go back to Tennessee for the ceremony.

And all over again, I thanked God for bringing Eric to my life again after I had left him before because he truly was my safe port in the middle of the storm that was my life. He helped me with Liz. He drove us there. He was available to either talk or just hug us in silence, whichever we wanted. He got people there organizing everything. And he never left our side.

Except during the day, of course.

And that was why, after I had just spent one of the worst days of my life, when I parked my car, I was extremely relieved to notice that it was night already and Eric would be there for me, thank God!

I turned off the key and the car immediately silenced. I deeply sighed and then I looked to my daughter. Liz was sleeping in the back seat of the car and somehow she looked comfortable in her little car seat. I knew that I'd never be able to carry her inside without waking her up so I called him.

"Hey," he answered the phone.

"Hi. I'm in the parking lot of the hotel. Liz fell asleep. Can you come here and pick her up please?" He ended the call without speaking another word and two seconds later Eric was opening my car door. He grabbed my hand and, at a snail's pace, he pulled me from the car. Without saying a single word, he hugged me and then he slowly kissed my lips.

Eric then kept hugging me and rubbing my back for a little while. When I moved slightly away from him, he kissed my forehead. I looked at his blue eyes, before I said: "Thanks. She's too heavy already. I'd probably wake her up while trying to grab her. And I'm too tired to even try to move Liz."

"None of that! I am here to help you," Eric answered me immediately. He then walked to the back part of the car, opened the door and slowly took Lizzie out of her booster seat, which was there to keep the lap and the shoulder belts in place. As soon as she was free from her car seat, he picked Liz up. And somehow, she kept sleeping undisturbed like an angel, only now she was on Eric's arms instead of inside the car.

"Thank you," I whispered closing the door of the car.

He moved his head, dismissing my thanks and then, once he had Liz comfortably on the right side of his chest, Eric asked whispering "How was it?"

I grabbed my purse from the car, I locked it and we started walking towards the doors. "It was awful and heavy," I whispered him back, "and sad."

And then, somehow, he managed to grab my daughter and still keep a free arm that he put around my shoulders while we were walking into the vampire hotel. We stayed in silence for another minute or two. "And Liz?" he finally asked in the elevator.

"I don't know. At first I think that she didn't understand where she was. Or why. But by the end, she was crying. But silently crying, you know? It was as if she had finally understood everything. I brought her to the car and asked David's nephew to stay there with her. When the funeral ended, she was sound asleep."

"She'll be okay," he answered while we stepped out of the elevator.

"I'm still not sure if I did the right thing taking her with me. David's mom insisted though and she _is_ Lizzie's grandmother. Her _only_ grandmother. But Liz is still only six years old. Her birthday is not for another two months... I just hope she won't remember her father's funeral. It was just too sad Eric. I hope she'll be like me. I totally blocked out my parents' memorial services and their burial in my memories. I just remember what I saw in Jason's head and…" I couldn't keep talking or walking or even moving. So I stopped. And then I cried on Eric's chest, in the hall towards our bedroom, while he kept his right arm around my sleeping daughter and his left arm around me.

It was not that I was still in love with David. Or that I would miss him. Not anymore. But I knew Lizzie loved her father and would feel deeply his absence. Why? Why? Why the hell had David fought that guy? I would never understand were disputes. Never. And after I had called him… After I had _begged_ him to not to do it…. After he had said that he wouldn't. Why? Why did he do it?

A few minutes later, I started to calm down and we managed to get inside our room.

Eric, once more (and thankfully), took charge. He changed Lizzie's clothes and put her pajamas on without waking her up and left her sleeping on my bed. And then he made me do the same. And finally, he took his own trousers and shoes off and he moved under the bed sheets and spooned me in silence. And that was exactly what I needed back then. I always felt that nothing could ever be wrong when I was in the inside of Eric's spoon – he was so big and I always felt really cared about. A few minutes after that, Liz slightly moved in her sleep, but I kept my arms around her and my eyes on her. And the three of us just stayed there in the bed, hugging in silence. Soon, I felt asleep.

The next morning my daughter woke me. She was uncharacteristically non-exuberant when she grabbed and started moving my arm, while saying "mom, I'm hungry". We both went to the bathroom and then dressed before we went to the dining room to have breakfast. I let her have chocolate cereals (even though she was only allowed those on weekends) and grabbed a cup of coffee for me (I felt that I wouldn't manage to keep any solid food in my stomach yet) and then we both moved to a table.

"So what happens now, mom?" she asked as soon as we sat.

"Well, after breakfast, we can go back to the room and you can play or color your book, or perhaps watch TV…" Her face showed me immediately that neither of these options would be her choice, so I tried again: "Or, if you want, we can go out to a park or garden outdoors? How about that place you like by the Greenway?" She sighed, moved her head, nodding to me. Okay, so to the park we would go.

"And then?"

"Then we'll have lunch somewhere. You can choose the place."

"And after lunch?"

"After lunch, we'll meet Gran so we can kiss her and say goodbye to her because as soon as Eric's awake we'll drive back home."

"Goodbye? To Gran?" She said with a scared face. Oh damn it. I had explained to Liz that the funeral was the way all her father's family and friends had to say goodbye to him.

"Just a 'see you later' Liz. Just until we come back to Cleveland or Gran goes and visits us at home." Yeah, like David's mom would ever travel to Louisiana. She had never liked me. Well, she more than not-liked me. She actually almost hated me, right from the beginning, because I wasn't double-natured and I had supported her son's previous decision to stay away from packs and other weres. I guess David had finally proved me right.

"So, Gran's okay?"

"Of course she is, baby. We'll come back again and visit her soon." And we would. I'd never keep Liz away from her father's family and even though David's mother had never liked me, I knew that she loved Liz.

"She didn't look okay yesterday…"

"She was just missing daddy, like we are."

My daughter then stayed in silence and I let her be. But when she still hadn't started eating her breakfast five minutes later, I said: "Lizzie?"

"And what about daddy?"

"Liz, we've talked about this." We had talked about it. About God and Heaven and the fact that daddy was probably her angel and would keep tabs on her now, even though she couldn't see him. "Do you have any questions, baby?"

"Will you die?" she asked immediately. She had obviously been thinking about it before.

"Not for many years. But eventually yes, I will. We all do," her face showed some fear, and I quickly added, "But like I said, not for many, many years. And by then you'll be all grown up and have your own kids. Well, you remember Silver, right?" Silver was Lizzie's goldfish, recently deceased because we had over-fed it by mistake… thrice. So, after we discovered Silver's premature death, we put her in a cigar box that Eric had had in his office and then we buried it in our back yard. Pam had been there with us too on the night of Silver's funeral. And Eric had even said a few words about how Silver had been such a good fish to everyone, never causing any problem, during the whole five months she had stayed with us, and that she would be deeply missed by the whole family.

"Yeah, I remember Silver."

"Well, Daddy will take care of Silver now in Heaven and I'll take care of you, here."

"But what if you die too?" Again, her question was way too quick. This was something that was truly bothering her. And I could understand that. She was just a child and this was the first time she had to deal with a death of an important person in her life. And unfortunately, I knew too well what she was feeling.

"Then, Eric will take care of you."

"But what if you and Eric die at the same time?"

I wouldn't talk about vampires' immortality at that point, which was _so_ not the right moment. So, obviously, I chose the easy way out of my daughter's question. "Then Pam will do it."

She stayed quiet, and finally started eating her breakfast. I was already thinking whose name I would pop up if the "what if you, Eric and Pam die at the same time" question appeared (probably Jason), when, all of a sudden, she changed the direction of our talk. "Will Eric be my new father?"

Okay… Would Eric be her new father? Well, for one Liz had never used the word father before. It was always "daddy". "Daddy" did this, "daddy" did that, "daddy" here, "daddy" there. Her first word, actually, had been "da-da" but even before she said "mommy" or "mom", or even "ma", she had already mastered the "daddy" word. And she had always been a "_daddy girl"._ But now, she was asking me if Eric would be her new father… Well, I truly didn't know what to answer her. I didn't know if she would want it, or if, on the other hand, she'd feel betrayed because she'd feel that Eric might be trying to substitute her real father somehow... And I sure didn't know what Eric would think about the subject either. I did know, however, that he loved her.

I sighted. "He _kind of_ already is. He loves you already and he sure cares and worries about you," Liz kept staring at me as if I had two heads. Oh boy! Maybe my "he kind of already is your father" strategy hadn't been a good idea. But it was the truth. I was absolutely sure that Eric loved and cared about her. And he loved to spend time with her too. "Hey, who took you to the circus last month?" I finally asked.

"Eric did."

"Well, that's a father's job."

Another minute or two of silence. More chocolate cereals eaten.

"But I call him Eric."

"That's because it's his name," I said.

And then, the rest of the breakfast was eaten in silence. The walk in the park was done in silence. We had lunch at an Italian pizzeria (Lizzie's choice, of course) and she only mumbled what she wanted to eat but then she kept her silence the whole time. Later in the afternoon, she kissed and hugged her crying grandmother before we went back to the hotel. _Also_ in silence.

Eric was already awake and waiting for us when we arrived there. We quickly paid our hotel bill, put our suitcases in the trunk of the car and then we drove back to Louisiana. In silence too.

And during the whole day, I had had to fight my instincts of checking Lizzie's thoughts. I was really worried about my daughter and I wanted to know what she was thinking about all that. How she was really dealing with her father's death. But I knew that even though she was only six years old, she deserved her privacy and I stayed away from her head. We hadn't left Bradley County yet when she fell asleep.

During the next weeks, I'd find her crying in her bedroom sometimes. But then, her cries became less and less frequent and she started to come back to her usual self. And whenever she wanted, we'd talk about David and we'd see old photo albums or watch videos of only the three of us or of us with David's family. And sometimes, she'd ask again about my death or Eric's death (I still kept the "vampires don't die" part of the conversation for another time).

And seven months later, at Christmas, when she saw that Eric's present was the most desired puppy dog, she thanked him with a kiss and a "Thanks dad! I love, love, love my puppy. I'll give him water now, okay? Puppies must eat and drink, right? I'll take so good care of him. I love, love my puppy." And she then ran to the kitchen, carrying the dog.

Eric just stood there, looking at me with an awed face and whispered "dad". I didn't know if he was happy or not about it. He just looked surprised. And I sure didn't know what to say to him. Besides, I didn't know if this was a recent development or just a fluke. So I only nodded and smiled at him.

Almost two hours later, it was bed time for Lizzie, and we were discussing Nike's sleeping arrangements.

"But mom…!" She said for the tenth time (at least!) that night. The two of us were more or less arguing in the living room. Liz wanted the puppy dog, Nike, to sleep in her bedroom. Most specifically, in her bed, under her bed sheets, as I could read from her mind. Whereas I did not, obviously. The dog would make a mess and it would be up to me to clean everything. Besides, dogs didn't belong inside a house for more than a couple of hours – I had always been much more a "cat-girl" myself, but I had always been confident on the idea that dogs wanted to run and bark at night, hence, sleeping in the open.

"There's no 'but' Lizzie. He's still a puppy, so Nike will sleep in the garage. But as soon as he's grown up, he'll be staying outdoors, in the garden. Dogs like that."

"But mom…! He's my puppy. He's mine, mine, mine," Well, talk about not being Eric's biological child. She was a 7 year-old girl version of Eric. Whatever she wanted, she had to get; and whatever she said, had to be a law. She _always_ had to have her own way and so she continued, "He's _my_ puppy. I decide. And I want him in _my_ bedroom."

I took a deep breath, so I wouldn't scream at her. Sometimes my daughter _truly_ took away my patience. "No Lizzie. The dog will stay in the garage. And that's the end of this conversation," I said, with the calmest voice tone I could muster (which wasn't that much), for the 12th time in as many minutes.

"But mom…!"

"Elizabeth! You will do as your mother tells you," Eric intervened. He used her full name and called me her mother, not mom or mommy. And because Eric hardly ever interfered (I was always the "bad cop" in our little routine – and no matter how much he liked her, he always let me make the important decisions concerning Liz), when he did intervene, he always got results. So, _thank you Eric._

But Liz wouldn't let things like that, obviously. Not this time. Yes, on the infrequent occasions when Eric interfered, he always got results. But Nike was a too-important issue for Liz. And just like Eric had, Liz too had a one track mind. And she had decided that the puppy would sleep upstairs in her room. So, she changed her tactic. And instead of charging against _me_, she chose to try Eric instead. "But dad…! Just tonight. Pleeease, pretty pleeeease!"

Eric grabbed both her and the puppy that was in her hands. He kissed her hair and looked in my direction. He was sitting with both the child and the dog at his lap, looking at me. And _Eric_ had puppy-eyes too. God help me! And Eric's sweet and loving puppy-eyes were asking me to let the dog sleep upstairs. But I kept my cool and I didn't melt, even with him looking at me that way. And I was proud of myself when I didn't succumb, and instead, I said nothing.

But my resistance didn't matter, because then _Eric_ submitted to my daughter's demand. "Well, maybe, just for tonight, if your mom lets you," he finally told her after one or two minutes into our staring contest.

"Thanks dad, thanks, thanks, thanks," she said kissing both his cheeks and hugging his neck. And then I noticed that he was smiling his perfect smile at her. The "maybe" and the "if your mom lets you" parts were totally ignored by my kid who just grabbed the puppy, left Eric's lap and ran upstairs without speaking a single word to me. And she was only seven; God help me when she reached her teenager years.

Then, as soon as we heard Lizzie running up the stairs, Eric immediately filled her void on his lap because he quickly grabbed me and sat me on top of him; but I had my legs straddling his. "Traitor!" I called him and lightly slap his arm.

"She called me dad," he said smiling.

"That just makes you a traitor dad. You _totally_ sold me out," I said smiling back at him. He moved his face and kissed me in the lips, but I quickly moved my face away from his and I said, "Nhu-uh! Don't you kiss me mister! I'm mad!" And then I added with a playful voice tone, "I thought we were a team here. It's us against her,"

"She called me dad," he repeated still smiling.

"Yes, she did. She called you dad." The next second I was lying on the couch and Eric was on top of me, kissing me. I hugged him and just when I felt his cold (but somehow burning) fingers on my stomach, under my shirt, we heard a voice from upstairs saying that the teeth were brushed and the pajamas were already on. And that meant: time for a little story and good night kiss.

"Let's keep the story short tonight, okay?" Eric whispered in my ears half way through the stairs while he was grabbing me from behind. I could feel his erection on my back and I only moved my head in agreement at him.

And thank God, 30 minutes later, we were closing the door of our bedroom and I was pressed against it with a very tactile and horny vampire in front of me. Eric laid his hands on me again, and I could feel that his fingers were once more on my belly, under my shirt, but this time they kept going up and started teasing my nipples through my bra while Eric's tongue played with mine. My arms were immediately around his neck and his shoulders. Jesus! Eric's large shoulders and his perfect back were such a turn-on… We kept kissing, against the door, for a few more minutes with me grabbing his back and he fondling my breasts. I could feel the fabric of my bra between his hands and my skin and I wondered why we weren't naked yet. Then, in just a second, and before I had even realized he had moved, I found myself _without_ the shirt and the bra. They were on the floor, by our feet, teared into pieces. And the strangest thing was that our lips were _still_ glued to each other, my hands were _still_ on his back and his hands were _still_ in the same position, on my breasts, but now _minus _the bra. Wow! That had been crazy. Good crazy, though.

We then stayed just like that, kissing and touching for a few more minutes. Not that there was any need for something that long, but Eric's foreplay was always great. And Eric's kisses and the feeling of his hands on me were awesome too, but soon I decided that I needed more contact, especially on my pelvis region. And as soon as I thought that (but before I said it), Eric's hands left my upper body and grabbed my ass in such a way that it was really easy for me to put my legs around his waist. He carried me to the bed and we both fell on the middle of it.

His lips moved to my neck and one of his hands shifted again to my breasts while the other started touching me right where I wanted. I could feel Eric's touch even through my jeans and I started moaning. And it was like he was inside my mind because the second I thought he was way too dressed (I really wanted to touch him… _there_), he immediately took off his t-shirt, his jeans and his boxers and laid on top of me again. But this time, thank the Heavens, he was naked. And when I saw Eric stroking himself right before he grabbed my hand from his shoulder and moved it to his… uh, dick, I could only think: "screw the blood bond, we are already connected".

From that moment on, most of my thoughts left my mind. And like it had happened before with my shirt, I just suddenly realized that I was without my jeans and my panties too. Just like that. And it was _so_ strange… Eric hardly ever used his _extreme_ speed with me. Yes, he was frequently quicker than a regular human when he was undressing me but I could always still feel him doing it. But tonight? Well, tonight it had taken him half a second to undress me and start licking my clit while two of his fingers were pounding in and out of me.

_Ohh God!_ I grabbed his hair and just concentrated on my breathing. Eric was burning me again somehow with his tongue and fingers and the feeling was excruciatingly amazing. My hip bones started leaving the bed, because my body had started to move of its own accord so it could meet Eric's mouth. He still had one hand grabbing my right breast teasing my nipple but soon he transferred that hand to my stomach to keep me from moving, while his other hand and tongue kept tantalizing me. Being somewhat restricted like that, by his hand keeping my stomach down, was my turn away point and I started convulsing and I came hard with a loud scream or something... Just don't ask me what I said, 'cause I wouldn't know.

Then, right in the middle of my orgasm, he entered me and I felt everything starting all over again... And wow! Had the oxygen left the room? Or was I having problems concentrating on doing something as easy as breathing? I didn't know; I just knew that he was kissing me again and saying something like "be quiet" but I was beyond care and could only respond him in sounds or monosyllabic words like "God" and "yes". So, he kept talking to me, but I couldn't understand him. I really couldn't understand him. I could only feel him. So my hands left his upper back and went south to grab his butt. His perfect, award winning butt. And then, soon, he started pounding me faster and harder. _Oh Jesus! _My legs were already around his waist but his arms were now opening them wider and he entered me even deeper. His new faster and harder pounding continued with that new position and I was sure I was going to explode. I wouldn't be able to keep doing it for long… I was almost breathless already. And I really wanted to be bitten… So I tried to tell him to _please, for the love of God, _sink his teeth into me but words were still evasive. But then he did bite me (even before I managed to ask him) and we both came hard almost at the same time. A couple more thrusts and I was a Jell-O pudding in Eric's arms. _Oh. My. God._

As usual, he laid on his back and I quickly snuggled up to his body. I had my head resting on his chest, my arm around his waist and one of my legs in the middle of his. This was so good, so perfect. Eric was the ultimate sex-machine, but the after-sex with him was as good as the sex itself. Okay, _almost_ as good.

That time it took me a little longer, but 15 minutes later I was able to talk again, and I used my new re-found capacity of speech to ask him a question, "Can you read my mind?"

He laughed and his whole chest moved, "No. Can you read mine?"

"You know I can't. You are a vampire."

"So, why are you asking?"

"Because whenever I wanted you to do something, you did."

"What do you mean?" he asked and then started rubbing my back. And I could feel the cold skin of his fingers. I swear: I _could_ feel the cold. But to hell, if it didn't feel hot as well.

"Well…" I kissed quickly his chest and then I kept talking, "when I wanted you to kiss me, you would. And when I wanted you to touch me this way or that way in particular, you would do it just like I wanted it... You know... It was like you could read my mind," I answered.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you lover, but I just did what I wanted, what I felt like doing. I just had my way with you."

I could hear the smile in his voice and just said "Eric!" and slapped his chest slowly and playfully, right where I had kissed it just a moment before.

He then added, with a much serious voice: "I guess we just know each other pretty well then. Because you also did exactly what I wanted," we then smiled at each other and Eric added, "except for the noise, of course"

"What noise?"

"You were really loud tonight Sookie."

I was? "Does it bother you?" He hadn't said anything about it before.

"On the contrary, I love it. But I was afraid Liz would wake up and come here and… let's just say that I'm not sure if I would have been able to stop fucking you – child or no child present in the room."

"Eric!" I said playfully slapping his chest again. He kissed my hair just as he had kissed Lizzie's earlier that night, and it reminded me, "She called you dad," I said.

"She did," I felt his arms hugging me with more strength.

"What do you think about it?"

"I think that… uhh… I think that I'm so happy that I don't even know what I think about it."

Aww! Could he be more perfect? I was so lucky for having him in my life. _He_ was my perfect Christmas present. Except, I got him every day (uhh… every _night_) of the year and not just on December 25th. "Well, I'm really happy for you two Eric," I said.

"And I'm really happy for us three lover."

I lifted my head from his chest and moved it towards his face. We were one second away from a kiss (and maybe round two) when his cell-phone, which was on his bedside table, rang and I stopped. But instead of moving to the phone, Eric let it ring, touched my face, as a way to tell me to keep moving towards him, and proceeded to kiss me for a couple of minutes. As soon as our kisses ended though, he grabbed the phone and looked at it.

"Fuck," he mumbled, "Natércia's back."

* * *

**Okay, so first loose end tied up: David's dead and there won't be any problems regarding Lizzie's custody. However, the second loose end is calling Eric on the phone… What do you think Natércia wants? Oh, and you do remember Natércia (or Nat), right? She was Eric's vampire friend, the one who lived with him for a few years when Sookie was in Tennessee and his on-and-off-again girlfriend for the last 800 years! Yes, _that_ Nat. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. Comments or suggestions are very welcome. And thank you for reading. Célia**

"**Lay Your Hands on Me" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, released in 1989, and a particular favorite of mine. The song runs 6 minutes, with a long intro focused on the drum beats of Tico Torres and keyboard playing of David Bryan as well as the chants of the crowd: "hey!", before going into a hard rock song, filled with loud guitar riffs by Richie Sambora and the husky delivery of lyrics by Jon Bon Jovi. And it's a great song! Oh, and back in 1989, Bon Jovi had long hair, just like Eric Northman… hehe! :)**


	35. This Woman Is Dangerous

**Hello! Here's chapter 35. I hope you'll enjoy reading it! Oh, and just a litle detail about yours trully: I also had a dog called Nike when I was growing up! :) Anyway, as before: characters not mine and beta-support by Charhamblin. Thank you for reading! Célia**

* * *

**Eric "This Woman is Dangerous"**

I suffered with Ocella's death. He had been an important (_the_ most important) figure in my life for over a millennium. And that's something hard to forget. Yes, it's true: we had never gotten along perfectly well; but I had always known that he'd be there for me. Until he wasn't anymore. And I guess that his death did an impression on me because I… I started feeling somewhat alone in the world without him. And after that night, I kept feeling unsure of myself; I was hesitant, always second-guessing my own opinions and insecure… But more than that, I was afraid. I was terrified that something might happen to Sookie or Liz during the day, and that I wouldn't be there for them. And without them, I'd be even more alone.

And also, I'm ashamed to confess, I… Well, I seriously pondered turning Sookie, even against her will. But after more or less a couple of months in this… _abnormal_ state, I managed to get myself together and I triumphed over my fears. I was me again. And I just wanted to keep promoting and managing the bars, as well as Area 5 and other Louisianan affairs while I also enjoyed both Liz and Sookie's company. You know: I wanted what Sookie had been wanting too since the beginning; I wanted a _conventional_ life; I wanted to be just like any _regular_ Joe.

And I was.

Okay, so I was only awake at night and I was respected… alright, _feared _by every vampire in the State and many more outside Louisiana, but other than that, I was just a guy who had his own business, and who liked to hang with his family. As soon as I'd awake, it would be dinner time for the humans in the house, so I usually stayed with them and watched them eat. And then I'd play with Elizabeth, or we'd all talk about their day or my previous night, and we would watch TV or play games or some other normal family stuff like that for a little while. Then, it was the bed and story time for Liz (either Sookie or I would read to Liz, but we'd both be there for her goodnight kiss and little prayer). After that, Sookie and I would have some time just to ourselves. Then, more or less at midnight, she'd go to bed and I'd go work. On weekends, Liz was authorized to stay up for a little longer and we used to go out as a _family_.

The night-only time table conditioned a little, because there weren't that many children-appropriate events at night, but we managed alright… There was always the cinema, the mall and the public parks and gardens in the summer. And then there would be the "different night" when we'd go to some place new… For instance, there was this night after I bribed, or rather, after I made a generous "donation" to the Shreveport Zoo, when we were authorized to visit it without any other patrons, at night, with one of the animals' keepers explaining everything to us – Liz loved that night and I felt pretty good with myself for allowing her that little treat because back then she wanted to be a veterinarian (Helen, her best friend in her class at school, had two dogs and a cat at home, and so they both wanted to be vets when they grew up). And then, once in a while, Liz would stay with Pam so Sookie and I could have a whole night to ourselves. And that was it: _conventional_ life, _regular_ Joe, _family_ time.

But I still hated that Sookie and I had wasted 10 years. A decade didn't mean much to me (hell, a decade was less than 1% of my life) but Sookie was still determined to stay human and I had stopped thinking about turning her against her will… well, not really _stopped_ thinking about it, but rather, I had decided that I _wouldn't_ do it unless she'd want it. Anyway, in her life, 10 years was a considerable amount of time. And I _really_ hated that we had been apart for so long. But, as Sookie was always saying, that "detour" was necessary because of Lizzie. And she was totally right. I just couldn't imagine our lives just the two of us without Liz. Elizabeth was just… well, she was in the top 10 most incredible people I had ever meet. And that was huge considering the number of people I met in more than 1000 years and the fact that she was still so young…

And so, Lizzie was really the true reason why I told Sookie to call her ex-husband when I discovered that he intended to fight Jake Scully, another were-bear.

Wait, let me answer you even before you question me: yes, I did have people checking David periodically… so sue me! The guy had once (at least I hoped, for his own sake, that it had only been once) bruised Sookie's arm because he had been too rough with her. And I would never forget that. Besides, he and Sookie had put their restaurant in Lizzie's name – and I wanted to make sure that he'd keep managing it well until her 18th birthday, at least.

But above everything else, Liz loved her father. David would come to Louisiana for a couple of days each month and she had stayed in Tennessee for three weeks on four different occasions during the last year and a half since they'd moved back with me.

So, yes, Liz was the true reason why I didn't want the death of the man who had lived with Sookie for almost eight years and who had had the audacity of marrying her when she was already married to me… Yes, I _knew_. I knew that the guy wasn't aware of it back then and that it had actually been Sookie's fault for keeping him ignorant of everything but… give me a break, okay? If I wanted to hate the guy for that, then I'd hate him!

Anyway, I got the call and I was told about David's plans.

"So you see Mr. Northman," Andrew Carter, the owner of the security and investigation firm I had hired to keep an eye on David, was saying, "after I did that check on Jake Scully, I decided to call you immediately instead of waiting for the end of the month, and sending it in the file report. I'm sorry if that was presumptuous of me. But it might be just a couple of days until they fight. A week at the most." I was to receive a detailed file of David's pack activities, as well as everything related to the restaurant on the last day of each month. But Carter had decided to call me with that news, and he had done alright.

"You did well. So, Scully's that tough?"

"Yeah, he sure is. Brown's in for a dangerous ride if he really gets on with it… I don't personally know Jake Scully, and I hadn't heard about him yet because, as I've said, he lives in Glasgow, Kentucky, but when I started sniffing around about him, everyone told me how brawny and kind of crazy he was…"

For some reason that I don't know and I sure don't give a shit about, there are not many were-bears out there. And so, bear-packs' territories are usually very extensive because that's the only way for them to get a considerate amount of members. Besides, most bears don't like to hang in packs (it might have to do with the real bears' non social identity and the fact that they don't even stay in family groups – but, again, I don't know and I don't give a shit about it)… So, the ones who do want to belong to some sort of pack, usually find easier to just be included in were-wolves' packs.

And the Tennessee were-bears had always been incorporated on one of the seven local were-wolves packs – David himself sort of belonged to the Hamilton County were-wolf pack. But even though they might belong or somewhat be kind of accepted in those wolves packs, there was still a "bear leader" (with huge territories because, as I said, there weren't that many were-bears), mainly to arbitrate disputes and to put different families in contact so they could breed. Damn weres and their obsession with breeding! Anyway, Jake Scully was the bear guy responsible for Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. And that was who David was challenging, so he'd be the pack leader himself, because of some fucking stupid disagreement or quarrel that Scully had decided against him.

Carter was still trying to figure out the exact reason for the dispute (something about how another guy had stolen David's woman…), but I told him to just forget it. The reason why wasn't important. The important thing was that David would be challenging the pack-leader (and son and grandson of previous pack-leaders), and that the guy was quite a fighter and a bit on the mad side… Well, I guess no one gets to be a first-rate warrior without some little psychosis in them, and I speak with a personal knowledge on the matter. The thing is: it's easy to fight when you know that you are good at it. But at first, you don't know it, and you're not good either. So you must be willing to risk everything, and fight without fear, so eventually you will be good at it. And I knew that David wasn't. Carter had also told me, that since Sookie left, David had been training. But it is one thing to work out in a gymnasium… Quite another to actually fight an experienced combatant. And I still remembered David's frozen stare after the Fae attack… And now he'd be challenging another were.

Oh, for fuck's sake… Those guys were crazy. All of them. All fucking double natured were fucking crazy. Fighting a pack-leader… Yeah, we vampires fight as well. Even I have been known to have participated in one or two wars and disputes. Okay, in _many_ wars and disputes. But when we fight (when _I _fight), that's because our prizes are great. There's always much money to be made, much power or lands to be acquired or because our own lives are at stake.

But being a pack-leader? Specially a bear's pack leader? Like I said, the bears usually stay each by himself or herself. So being a bear pack-leader was even lamer than being a were's pack leader. It was _much_ lamer. The bears' packs weren't packs at all. And so, being their leader was just an empty title without benefits. And to fight because of that? It was just crazy and stupid!

But even if it hurt me to admit it, David _was_ a good father (well, as good as he could be living two states away, at least) and Liz loved him and I knew that she needed him around. And so, when I was informed of that pending fight, I did indeed inform Sookie about it. And I even urged her to call him or even go back to Cleveland to talk to him in person if she had to.

And she did call him and tried to put some reason in his mind. And he did say that he would back off his challenge. But he fought anyway. And he lost. And so, he was then killed by Jake Scully, the _still_ pack-leader. Weres, very much like vampires, hardly ever left a challenger alive after a fight.

And then Sookie became really sad. She just cried all the time. Lizzie reacted better, I guess. We tried to explain everything to her and she just nodded. Her little face as sad as her mother's. But humans are resilient and both mother and daughter eventually continued with their lives. And later that year, at Christmas, Liz called me dad.

Sookie had told me that Lizzie had been wondering and asking about my role in her life for the past few months. When I asked Sookie her opinion about Lizzie's questions, she just said that it was between the two of us and that she had nothing to say about it – it was up to me and Liz to figure it out between us.

"Eric, I don't even know if you want or if you don't want Liz to see you as her father… And I sure won't influence you one way or another. Like I said, it's between you two. I'm just telling you that she'd been asking about it, so you won't be caught off-guard if she eventually asks _you_ about it."

"But you don't have any opinion on this?" Sookie _always_ had an opinion about absolutely _everything_. Sometimes, her constant opinions, especially those that were about the vampire way (_against_ the vampire way), even drove me crazy.

"Oh, I do. I just won't share it." And she didn't.

So, I just kept thinking about it myself. And wondering what Liz was thinking about it too. But neither of us talked about my role in her life with each other. Well, I guess that I, being the adult, should just approach her and ask her what she wanted me to be in her life, but I just didn't have it in me. What was it with Sookie and Liz that always took away my courage in apparently easy matters?

But then, all of a sudden, and quite unexpectedly, I was no longer Eric but dad. Just like that. She didn't ask if I minded it. I didn't stop to think if I wanted it. We didn't even talk about it. She just called me dad. One moment, I was "Eric" to her; and the next, I was "dad".

And you know what? It was like all my life, all my _more-than-1000-years-old_ life, had been lived so that I could get to that moment when Sookie loved me and her daughter called me dad. After centuries on my own, I was a father again; and this time, I would stay around to see my child grow up. Everything was just… perfect.

Well, I'm_ obviously _not one who believes in Christmas Miracles (not Christmas, and sure as hell not Miracles), but I truly felt blessed on that moment when Lizzie called me "dad". I knew that I would never be her "daddy" – that title would be forever David's, and I truly didn't intend to step on that role. But he wasn't there anymore, and a little girl needs a father figure. And I loved that girl already, so I was damn glad to be her "dad". Me, a father again. I never thought I'd live to see the day.

"She called you dad," Sookie said after a particularly good sex marathon that same night that had me feeling blessed all over again.

"She did."

Sookie then asked me what I thought about it but I was still kind of high on the "dad calling" so I answered something cheesy. But Sookie didn't seem to mind it and told me she was happy for the two of us.

"And I'm really happy for the three of us, lover," I replied.

Yes, I know: cheesy again. Pam would laugh at me if she heard it. But I really didn't care, because that cheesy sentence awarded me a great kiss from Sookie. And then, my phone chose that particular moment to ring, but I didn't care about a single thing in the whole world other than Sookie's lips and I kept kissing her. However, when I saw Sookie trying to prevent a yawn right in the middle of our kiss, I let her go and then I looked at my cell phone.

It had already stopped ringing, so I had to open it to see the missing call's number. And that was when I saw the five letters: Nat NY. So Natércia was calling me from her one-bedroom Midtown Manhattan apartment. And that meant that she was no longer in Canada. At least for now… And she was probably calling me to ask if I wanted to meet her there, or if it would be easier for me that she come to Louisiana. Fuck!

I thought about when had been the last time that I had spoken to Nat on the phone... Well, two months, maybe... Fuck! After Nat left Shreveport and went to Canada again, we kept talking on the phone once in a while. And more or less twice a year we'd meet, either in Vancouver when I visited her, or in some European or Asian country, where we would remember past times there (and with an 800-years-old on and off relationship, we had lots of past times and places to remember). And I always had two or three great weeks with Nat whenever we were together. Natércia was gorgeous, intelligent and had a great sense of humor. Okay, a _stange_ sense of humor. But I got her and she was indeed a very good friend. And a great fuck. Besides, she was just like me. We truly got along okay (for brief periods of time) because we were just two halves of the same pie. She had been made with the same flour that I had.

And even after Sookie had come back, I had kept more or less in contact with Nat – she was and had been, after all, one of my closest friends for centuries. But I had stopped going to Vancouver to meet her. And we hadn't taken a trip to Europe either, for the last two years. Actually, our last vacation together and the last time we had seen each other personally, had been two months _before_ I received Gilbert's phone call about Sookie's eminent danger. Nat and I had travelled trough Austria, Switzerland and Germany that time. And right at that moment, I wished that she'd still be in Europe. Or Canada. Or wherever. But _not _on the USA.

"Fuck," I mumbled, "Natércia's back!"

"Who's Natércia?" She asked.

"An old friend. I'll call her back later. Now it's time for the human to sleep," Sookie was yawning again, so she didn't answer me. She just kissed me quickly again and laid on the bed. A few minutes later, I heard Sookie's tranquil sleeping breathes and left our bed.

I took a quick shower and I dressed, before I moved towards the hallway. I stopped to check Liz and Nike (who was on the floor and not on her bed), and I found both child and dog sound asleep, so I went downstairs. The clock told me it was still night in Europe so I called Pam.

"Hey Eric,"

"Hello Pam. How was your Christmas?" I asked her.

Christmas never meant anything to me. Hell, I was brought up in a society that had worshiped Odin, Thor, Balder, Tyr and Ull, among others. Back when I died, some close villages (the bigger ones) were starting to go through a process of Christianization. But not me. I died truthful to the beliefs that I had been taught from birth. I died believing that the Gods lived in Asgard and that, if treated well, they would help us against evil forces; and for that, I made sacrifices, which we all called _Blot_. However, after my first death (and when I realized that I hadn't been saved from an evil force called Appius Livius, no matter all the _Blots _I had done), I stopped believing altogether that there was even a God.

But then and there, more than a millennium later, I believed again. Well, I didn't believe in any religion, but I did believe that there had to be some Greater Entities somewhere because the world was too perfect to be just a fluke. And I had decided to call them Gods.

However, since that first Christmas after I turned Pam, I realized how important this celebration was to her – not so much the religious aspect of the birth of Christ, but rather the celebration with your family and friends, and obviously, the exchange of gifts. Pam truly loved Christmas and I had allowed her to commemorate it ever since that year when she had became my child. Actually, that was the very first year that I truly celebrated Christmas, and all because of Pam, and her Christmas-in-family obsession. But believe me: she was not the only one. Sookie loved Christmas as well, and she saw it mainly as a family festivity too.

"I'm in Paris and it snowed Eric. It snowed. Tonight was a perfect night. You should have been here. The city is beautiful with all the Christmas lights in every street," Pam's voice showed me her glee and I was happy for her, "believe me, there's absolutely no gloom at all, with the elegant holiday lights… And the snow was just the cherry on top of everything."

"That's great Pam,"

"And how was your Christmas Eve? Did Liz like the dog?"

"She loves it already,"

"Great! But you... you sound off-key Eric. Is everything okay? The rest of the night?" I smiled inside. _Of course_ Pam would recognize it on my voice. With a whole ocean between us, just extremely strong feelings could be felt through our maker-child bond. But Pam knew me too well and even without feeling me as she would if she was to be in Louisiana, she could tell that tonight had been a special night for me as well.

"Yes, everything's all right. And my night was pretty perfect too."

"Eric?"

I could hear the curiosity in her voice, but I only said: "Pam?"

"Eric, will you stop that? Just tell me already! What happened?"

I laughed at her impatience and after another "Eric!" from her, I answered: "Elizabeth called me dad tonight."

"Oh," Pam and her "oh's". "Oh" was Pam's "go-to phrase". Whenever she didn't know what to say (which wasn't that frequent), she would just say "oh". And after my answer, she really didn't know what to say.

But I knew the reason behind her silence. She was trying to figure out what I was feeling about this new "dad-calling" development. I had told her that the night had been perfect and that the reason was that Liz had called me "dad"; but that would be against all I had ever said and all my behavior towards humans and weres, and children as well. For more than 200 years, Pam had seen me all by myself, and she had never even visualized me as a family man. It was a hard concept for her to conciliate: me, her motherfucker maker, as a happy dad of a half-were child. I decided to add more fuel to the conversation and I said: "Actually, she said it more than once."

"And you? Are you okay with that?"

I sighed. I actually sighed on the phone. And then I said: "Pam, I… I just… it was… I loved it."

I knew Pam wasn't used to hear me with difficulty just to say a few words. And she was not used to hear me use the word "love" lightly either, so she understood the huge importance of being called "dad". She knew that I truly was beyond words because it meant a lot to me. And, as the good vampire child that Pam was, she just disregarded my lack of words with profanities:

"It's just a fucking noun Eric. You were her father already for the last two years since she was five. The kid fucking adores you."

"You are right. It is just a noun."

"But Eric? Congrats!" And in that last word, I heard it. Pam's happiness for me. She had dismissed the "dad-calling" as just a noun, but she knew that it wasn't.

You see, Pam was just like me. Yes, we were both badass vampires, but we were also deep and we felt. We mostly kept that cool exterior but we were just like any human. Well… more or less. Kind of. Okay, not really. Not at all. But we did feel. We still do. Actually, the truth is that we are not (and we had never been) heartless even thought our hearts didn't beat any more. Yes, there was some savage within us, and there wasn't a lot of mercifulness, but we did feel.

"Thanks Pam," I said from the bottom of my unbeating heart.

But now that the pleasant part of our phone call conversation was done, we should move to the _less_ enjoyable part because I needed Pam back in Shreveport since Nat would probably visit us, so I asked her: "So tell me: when are you coming back?"

"Missing me already? Eric, the bars' franchising is finally working without major problems. You know I deserve these long vacations… I was figuring two, maybe three more months. Why?"

"Can you come early if you have to?" I'd not force her to come back. Especially not because of Nat – I knew how Pam hated her. But I'd feel much better to know that Pam was at least available _and_ close-by if Natércia did visit me.

"Why?" See asked again.

"Natércia called me tonight. From New York."

"Fuck. So she's in the US? Is she visiting you?"

"I haven't called her back yet. I don't know. But my guess is that she will, even if I don't call her back. Nat never calls just to chat. She calls when she wants something." And that would be "me" now.

"When was the last time you talked to her?"

"On the phone? A month or two ago. But I haven't been to Canada since Sookie came back. And you know how I used to stay a week or two there with Nat every year since the last time she was here in Louisiana after she came back from Russia."

"What do you think she wants?" Pam asked.

And I could only think that, again, the answer would be "me". But instead, I said: "Maybe she just wants to tell me that she's going to Australia or wherever. Or maybe this is a booty call. Or... who knows? Perhaps she isn't coming back at all but just wanted to ask how I was doing. With Nat, I don't know… But either way, I'd like if you were here, with Sookie, if necessary." Fuck. I truly didn't know what Nat would want. But I did know that I didn't want a sexual relationship with her. Not anymore. But I also felt certain that she was still important to me. Natércia would always be important to me. After all, she _was_ my best friend.

"When do you want me back?"

"I'll tell you as soon as I call Natércia back. I'm still hoping that she won't be visiting us here..."

"What if you go and visit her in New York? Then Sookie won't even have to know about it..."

"I wouldn't cheat on her, and you know that, Pam," I said immediately. I wouldn't. And Pam knew it.

"You don't have to fuck Natércia in New York. Just meet her there, talk for a couple of days, and don't tell Sookie about it."

"It wouldn't work, Pam. Natércia would figure out that something was different with me, and she'd come here without a phone call afterwards. And Sookie would then discover that I had met Nat in New York, and that I had kept it from her. And you know Sookie…"

"Yeah,"

"I'm still hoping that Nat just called because she wants to talk,"

"I don't think so," Pam said.

"Me neither."

"And it won't be a nice visit with Sookie there," she almost whispered.

"No, it won't. I'm guessing that neither of them will like the other. Sookie won't understand how important Nat is to me, but she'll have to, as you did. And Natércia won't understand Sookie's role in my life but that's the way I live now. And as my friend, Nat will have to deal with it," Well, at least I sounded positive about it. And I did speak confident words. Even if I wasn't.

"That's what I'm afraid of: the way she'll deal with it…"

And so was I. But I didn't tell Pam that. Instead, we then decided that she'd stay in Europe, enjoying her free time, and I'd call her back when I knew Nat's arrival schedule and then we ended our phone call.

I stayed in my office at home for another two or three hours, answering e-mails and calling a couple of vampires with orders about my Area. Most old–timers, like me, didn't celebrate Christmas, so they wouldn't have any problem about answering my phone call. And if they did, well then, as Pam would say in Paris, _"tant pis"_.

Later that night, I checked Lizzie's room again and found her still sleeping. The dog though was chewing the little blanket where it was laying. But Nike (Lizzie's choice of name) was quiet, so I went to my room where I snuggled Sookie until dawn. And afterward, I went to my _other_ room to sleep.

And why did I go to that other room? Because, even though Sookie had come back almost two years before, I was still spending the days in my room in the basement. And the main reason for that was that Sookie didn't want Liz to see me dead. She was only seven and there was no reason for her to see me _not_ breathing, _not_ moving and basically _dead_ to the world.

To "compensate" me somehow, Sookie would meet me many times right before the sun went down. And let me tell you: I loved to wake up with her on my bed. Especially when she was naked.

But when I left our upstairs room that Christmas night, to go to my basement room, I couldn't stop myself from thinking that the new "dad calling" progress would perhaps mean that I'd be allowed to spend the day upstairs. Maybe Sookie would now feel comfortable enough to let Liz take the risk of seeing me dead? I wished she did. I was sure Liz would understand…

And _that, _the fact that we didn't sleep in the same bed, was one of the two thorns in our relationship. Yes, we stayed awake in the same bed frequently. But we weren't sleeping at those times. No. Definitely _not_ sleeping. And yes, I spooned her often in the upstairs room late at night when Sookie was sleeping. And yes, she also met me quite often in my basement room. But sleep-sleep? Well… no. We really didn't sleep-sleep in the same bed. And that… bothered me.

I understood the reasons why: the need to keep my day time rest place secure and the fact that she didn't want to scare Lizzie. Hell, I didn't want to scare Liz either. And yes, Elizabeth hadn't yet seen me dead for the day, but I was willing to bet that she'd be okay with it. She had been okay with everything else that concerned my vampire nature (even more than Sookie). And I did miss the fact that Sookie and I didn't sleep in the same bed.

And then, there was the other thorn in our relationship. The blood bond. The _no_ blood bond. Yes, I used to drink for her once or twice a week. Sometimes even more times than that, if I somehow found myself too caught up by the… _situation_, that I'd forget that I had already drank before. But _she_ hadn't yet had my blood since right after she came back (we then decided that both she and Liz should have a couple of drops of my blood – just enough for me to be able to get to them if needed… you know, just in case).

And obviously, the absence of a blood bond bothered me to no end. And, every now and then, I would ask her about it but she usually just answered me "not yet" and I didn't insist anymore. I didn't want to scare her. Back then, I was really convinced that she wouldn't run again. But with Sookie? Well, you never knew. So it was always best to not insist too much. And I just kept hinting to her about it once in a while, and she kept saying "not yet".

But the thing that Sookie didn't realize was that my blood in her would mark her as mine _for sure_. Yes, she always smelled like me and any vampire that would approach her would know that she had been with me. Any supernatural would know that she, most probably, was mine. And it was the "most probably mine" instead of "definitely mine" that bothered me. I really wanted for everyone to know that she was mine. Completely and utterly mine. Blame it still on the "Ocella incident" if you want… I really didn't understand that _so fucking deep_ need inside me either… But I needed it. I needed for everyone to know that she was mine. However, of course, I couldn't (and I would never) tell her about it.

And now, Natércia was probably coming back. She had been insisting for me to meet her in Vancouver for a while now… And I had a feeling that because I hadn't done it, she was going to visit me instead. And she would expect to have sex with me. We always did. She would expect that we would spend time together. We always did that too. She would expect to spend the day with me. As always.

Nevertheless, this time _would be_ the exception. And Natércia would obviously figure out that Sookie was the reason behind the exception. But, as always, Nat would take a look at Sookie and see only a fangbanger. Yes, a fangbanger that had been having sex with me for some time, but nothing more than a feed and fuck.

In our 800 years old history together, there had been many times when I had visited Nat and found her living with another vampire or, more frequently, a human. And there had been the same many times when she had come to me when I was living with someone else. Hell, when she had met Pam, we had been living together. And that had never been a problem. I wasn't jealous about Nat and she wasn't jealous about me either. But except for Pam, who was my child, none of those women had ever meant anything to me. And because Natércia knew it, she had never felt threatened by them. But Sookie did mean a lot to me. She meant _everything_ to me. And like Pam had said, I was afraid of the way Nat would "deal" with Sookie.

Damn it! Everything had been just great. Why the hell would Natércia come back now? Why would she? On all the times we had been together, I was almost always the one visiting. Not her. Yes, I knew that since Sookie had come back, I hadn't been to Canada, but Nat was never one to visit. She always wanted others to go to her. Not the other way. Yes, I believed that my not-visiting-her might make her come to me. But not yet. Maybe in 10 or 15 years. Not sooner! And definitely not _so soon_. Shit!

Hell, maybe I was being a little delusional in my thinking. Nat _was_ my best friend. But we had been more than that during my 800 year relationship with her. Or rather, during my 800 years _romantic_ relationship with her. Fuck! I could see Sookie being very angry at me for keeping her in the dark about Nat. Damn it! That woman was dangerous. Nat was _really_ dangerous. And she would probably be a threat to my relationship with Sookie. Fuck! FUCK!

So, thinking about all this, I left Sookie alone in our bedroom upstairs and went to my bedroom in the basement. I laid on my bed, and I waited the final minutes before sunrise. I'd call Natércia on the following night. I needed some more time before that phone call. I then moved the bed sheets from me, and I almost sat on my bed, still thinking about that whole damned situation.

The only positive aspect of it was that Pam was coming back. And I was really glad for it because I was sure that she'd help me if Nat indeed intended to come to Louisiana. Pam was a vampire but she had been a human woman once and I was sure she'd be a good adviser. It was not frequent that I'd ask for guidance. Especially from my child. But these were women or, at least, former woman we were talking about. And sometimes I felt completely clueless about that gender. And even though I hadn't called Nat yet, I knew that she'd be coming to Louisiana too. I just knew it. And that made me value Pam's arrival yet again.

Suddenly, I felt the dawn approaching but I wasn't feeling its pull to sleep yet. Fuck! My lack of sleep was only a mirror of my worries. Fuck.

I laid on the bed again and I tried to sleep. My daytime death would come to me in the next few minutes. But before its arrival I had still some time to think. And I thought how Natércia was my long time friend, but Sookie was my wife. And then I wondered if they'd both understand how fucked up that situation was. I also tried to imagine what I'd do if Sookie left me again because she didn't understand how important Nat was to me. And I tried to picture Nat's reaction too. Would she hurt Sookie once she'd see how I loved her? I was sure that I wouldn't allow it and I'd fight Natércia if I had to.

Yes, I wouldn't care about our friendship. If Nat tried to hurt Sookie, I would protect her. No matter what. I would fight Nat if I had to. But… Natércia was probably a little older than I was. And then, I had my last couple of thoughts that night before I died for the day: I thought about how Nat and I had fought before once, right after we had met, and how I had lost.

So… if I really had to fight Nat, would I win?

* * *

**So? Any thoughts about the chapter? Yes, yes, I know. Eric is guilty of poor judgment because he didn't tell Sookie about Natércia. But hey, extremely good-looking Viking vampire or not, he's a guy! And guys are… well, guys! Anyway, I'm dying to hear what you thought about this chapter! Please review! Thank you, Célia**

**The Power Station Years: The Unreleased Recordings is a compilation of previously unreleased songs recorded by vocalist/ guitarist Jon Bon Jovi (then known by his given name of John Bongiovi) that was first released as a 15 track compilation in 1997. They were recorded in the early 1980s in a local recording studio named the Power Station, where John worked as a janitor. The songs were recorded previous to the formation of the now-famous band, Bon Jovi. In 1998 the follow-up, a 20 track edition "More Power Station Years" was released consisting of the previous albums 15 tracks plus 5 unreleased songs, which included "This Woman Is Dangerous". It starts like this: "**_**She can steal the stars and the moon / She can kill you with a wink of an eye."**_


	36. Little Bit of Soul

**Here's a new chapter, which I had a great time writing. I hope you'll enjoy reading it. And I'll start with next chapter later today because I'm really looking forward to the moment when Sookie will meet Natércia! :) Oh, ****an Natércia is my grandmother's name - she raised me since I was 11, so this is my little homage to her. But my Gran is a lovely person, and not _at all_ like this Nat.** Anyway, have a nice weekend, Célia

* * *

**Sookie "Little Bit of Soul"**

Until 12 years ago my life was absolutely boring. I worked most days; I had a couple of close friends (basically my boss Sam and my co-worker Arlene) and a few less-close friends (former colleagues from high-school, like Tara and JB); I lived with my Grandmother; I saw my brother have girlfriend after girlfriend (while I kept _not_-dating); and I sunbathed. But that was it.

Yes, sure, the vampires were already "out of the coffin" (and that had been a big _wow! _for me… well, for everyone really) but I was still your typical small town (in Louisiana!) waitress. Yeah, okay, so I could read minds... But believe me: even with that "twist", my life was still pretty boring. I guess the minds I read were boring as well…

But then I met Mr. William Compton; or Bill, for short. He was my new neighbor and he was an instant hit for me because I couldn't read his thoughts. And that little detail, _not_ listening to his mind, made me very happy. Now, in retrospective, I wish I had read his thoughts at the time… It might have saved me a ton of trouble. Anyway, eventually Bill took me to Fangtasia (I had foolishly asked him that) and he introduced me to Pam and Eric. And meeting those three was the same as opening a door to a whole new world. A whole new _crazy_ world.

And why? Because, from then on, _everything_ started happening... And I really mean _everything. _First, I discovered that there were people out there that could shift their bodies like any animal they want; as in _really_ change their body to the body of an animal. And that _my boss_ was a shifter. And soon later, I met more vampires. And then I met a few weres – as in real were_-_wolves and also a were-tiger. Yes, I really said were-tiger. There were were-tigers out there. And even fairies. I discovered that fairies truly, really existed. Not your typical Tinkerbell, obviously, but some other sort of fairies did exist. So, _wow!_

But things didn't stop there, because eventually, I was shipped to Dallas and more things happened there too, including my first taste of Eric's blood while I was... well… sucking a bullet out of him. Jesus! I still don't know how I fell for that! Anyway, soon after that, _Eric_ was shipped too. But he was shipped to _my house_. And I quickly fell in love with his sweet side. But then, he vanished, as well as his sweet side. And he even stopped answering my phone calls. And suddenly there was the blood bond _and_ my (kind of) marriage. And _all that_ happened in more or less two years. Two years! And don't even get me talking about Rene Lenier and Sweetie Des Arts' killing sprees. Oh, and there was Tara's Mickey too. _Wow! _Indeed.

And my life had in fact been in peril so damn many times I had even lost count; since that first night when I had been attacked by a couple of Trailer Trash because I had defended Bill from them the previous night, up until that last night at Gran's when Victor did De Castro's bidding and managed to get Eric's allegiance... by force. And in the meantime, let's not forget, I had also been staked in Jackson (yes, me, a _human_ among vampires had been staked). And there had also been the bombs in Rhodes, we mustn't forget that too. Not that holding _in your own hands_ a bomb until the bomb squad guy shows up and then discovering that there was a new bunch of bombs about to explode and kill you and a few of your friends is forgetful…

And another cherry on my cake: even the FBI (_the_ FBI) had been on my tail, for crying out loud! Me! I had always been a law abiding citizen, and suddenly, I had the FBI after me! And they didn't even know half the story! Because if they did know about the time when I killed Debbie Pelt, I'd have been put in a jail cell. Me! Killing someone! Shooting her! In self-defense, obviously… But still…

I mean: I went from "nothing happens" to "everything happens" in a couple of years. And so I really, really, really needed some peace and quiet, and, above all, some normalcy. And that's why I left to Tennessee. I freaked out with everything that was happening in my life, and Eric's absence didn't help me either, and I left.

And things actually calmed down. But just for a while; just until the fairies decided they wanted a piece of me. And it was awful. But after the "Fae war" I was able to have some quietude once more. And then I went through a very happy couple of years, because I was recently married and I had a baby girl. But David soon started hanging with other supes and eventually we divorced. And after another fairy incident (and by incident I meant that they tried to kill me… for a _second_ time), I thought I had found some peace… with Eric. But, of course, I hadn't. Eric's maker decided to visit and he even brought with him his younger child and more drama. After it, Eric changed (he was kind of traumatized) and it was really hard to live with him back then. But in due course he came back to his own self. And eventually we got over that Ocella/Alexei episode as well.

A few more months of calm followed, but David's death was a strong blow in our lives again. Lizzie really missed her father (she still misses him and talks about David quite often). But kids are strong. And she reacted as best as we could hope to her daddy's death. Eric helped her, of course. Time passed again.

And a month ago, last Christmas was one of the happiest ever! Pam was away vacationing in Europe and my brother was in New Orleans on his latest honeymoon (his fourth). And so, the Christmas Eve was spent at home just the three of us. But it was, believe me, just perfect. It wasn't the best day of my life, obviously (that would have been Lizzie's birthday), but it was a very close second or third best day! We had the fire place, the Christmas tree _and_ the nativity set with the little crib and figures. And gifts, obviously. I bought Eric a really good (and a little bit too expensive) watch and he gave me a lovely necklace and earring set. And we both laughed when we realized that we had both been to the same store to buy the gifts for each other. And obviously there were Lizzie's presents: tons of clothes (she was growing so fast…!) and play toys. And Nike, her new puppy dog. But the best present of the night was the one Liz gave Eric, unknowingly: she called him dad.

Well, I had always thought that Eric was absolutely gorgeous. Everyone would! He was an Adonis. His body was a master piece. His face has got to have been crafted by angels, for sure. And his eyes had the most beautiful dark-blue rim around his iris and also an even mix of pale blue and white rays… Yes, I had always thought that Eric was utterly stunning. But when my daughter called him dad? It was like his face lighted inside and his eyes were shooting rays of light or something. The way the smiled... Just remembering it now, still brings tears to my face… _Happy_ tears, of course. That night, I felt extremely happy and blessed knowing that my daughter loved Eric; and that he was happy about it and he loved her back… And let me tell you that the sex that night was un-un-un-believable. Even _better_ than it normally was.

And now, a month later, Pam was back to Louisiana (much earlier than planned) and I felt that everything was finally how it should be, because she belonged to our family too (well, everything was finally how it should be, _except_ for the fact that Nike loved to chew the pillows on the living room couch and any shoe he got hold of).

But, as usual, the universe didn't give us a break and another possible problem was on her way to our home (yes, the problem was a _"her"_). And Eric was telling me about it (about _her_) on the night after Pam's arrival. Huh… Now that I thought about it… Had Pam come back earlier than scheduled because of this person Eric was talking about? I'd have to ask her later, because now there was a more pertinent question.

"Is this the same Natércia that called you on Christmas Eve?" I remembered Eric saying something about a Natércia because it was an unusual name. It sounded strange and old, and I had immediately figured out that she would be a vampire. But I also still remembered asking Eric about it, and he dismissing the subject. So I just didn't care about it then. I guess I should have…

"Yes. And I called her back on the next night. I was expecting her to say that she wanted me to visit her, but she didn't. Instead, she said that she was coming to visit me in a few weeks. And uuhh… she'll arrive tomorrow."

Oh no. Not again… Why did Eric always do this? Why? I knew that he wanted to shield me away from any possible problem or care in the world. But I was not a little child. I was not Lizzie's age for crying out loud. When would Eric understand that? And why hadn't he told me before (like _a month_ before) about that… _Natércia_? "Is there any reason why you are telling me this just now and not back then?"

"She is an old companion. And she is visiting. That is all."

I wanted to scream "wrong answer buddy", because he didn't actually answer my question, but I let him be (for now!). And why did I let him be? Because there was something else that was bothering me right then and there. And it was Eric's face. Because he was _dead serious_. That was truly a serious matter to him. Whatever that Natércia might be, she _was_ important and he was… _nervous_ about her visit. But I just couldn't see why... So, he _was_ hiding from me something else about this visit, I could tell. But I couldn't see why either. In the past two years, since I had moved to his house, several vampires had visited Eric. He was over 1000 years old and he was an important sheriff (with De Castro in Las Vegas and Victor in Arkansas, Eric was basically the non-official King of Louisiana). So, obviously, vampires visited him. And it was always okay because Eric over-ranked everyone.

Except Filipe De Castro.

"Is she married to De Castro? Is this Natércia your Queen?"

"No, she is not. In point of fact, she has been living in Canada for the last few years, not the US. She is a very ancient companion and she is visiting."

There it was again: the drop of the contractions, the formal expressions like "in point of fact" instead of "actually" and "ancient" instead of "old". And what was it with the "companion" thing? Eric had called her that twice already. Again, if this was just a regular visit, Eric would not be like this. And other than when Filipe visited us, the only other visit that hadn't been okay was when Ocella, Eric's "father", had been in Louisiana.

I wondered… could it be? Well, nothing better than to just ask him. And that was what I did.

"Is this Natércia your other maker or something?" I had always thought that vampires had only one maker and it didn't matter if it was a male or female vampire. Up to my knowledge, to create a vampire, the maker just had to drink the "child" dry and then give him or her the maker's own blood. _Et voilá_, a vampire was made. But who the hell knew about vampire's laws and traditions? Maybe they needed a "mother" and "father" maker? Jesus! They had come out of the coffin almost 20 years before. Someone should have already written a damned "What You _Really _Need To Know" book about them.

But Eric just laughed at my question. Better. Much better. He was laughing, showing me how silly my question had been. And I felt better already. If he was laughing that easily, the new visit couldn't be too bad. Uuhh… Right?

"Lover, _Ocella_ was my maker," Eric answered.

"And I killed him," Pam added in a second.

"So this Natércia is…?" I said. It was sort of a sentence, but I gave it an interrogation tone hoping that someone would end it for me. And I got my wish. Twice. Because both Pam and Eric completed my phrase.

"A bitch" Pam said. And, at exactly the same time, Eric answered "my friend".

_Ooookay. Humm…_ My eyes moved between both of them sort of asking them to explain why the two answers, or at least, which one was true. And finally, Eric said: "Natércia is my oldest friend. I met her in Italy, in a village between Rome and Lazio in the 11th century. She's actually one of my trusted friends." He said the last sentence looking at Pam.

"Okay, an old friend…" I hoped to God that it would only be like a high school reunion of sorts. I really hoped so. "Ohh, so it's good that she's visiting you. How long have you guys not seen each other?" I asked.

"A little more than two years,"

Ah. What?

Vampires as old as Eric, or even Pam, sometimes spent decades (as in _many_ decades!) without meeting each other. They always spoke about time with a _very_ different concept about it than us, regular _not_ immortal people… Damn it! That could only be a bad thing. Even high school reunions had people that hadn't met for way longer than two years! If Eric and that Natércia person couldn't stay away from each other for more than two years, it _had to_ be a bad thing… I stayed sitting there with my eyes narrowed, wondering what exactly Natércia was beyond being Eric's friend. Pam had called her a bitch. Did that mean…?

"Is she your girlfriend?"

Now it was Pam's time to start laughing at my question but Eric looked at her with one of his "I'm your maker" stares and she immediately shut up. Okay, so that new question wasn't a laughing subject to Eric. And I could understand him. It sure wasn't a humorous issue to me either. But I knew that I would have felt much better, if he had laughed just like he had done with the "is she your maker" question.

After almost a minute, Eric finally answered: "We were lovers in the past, yes. Several times actually."

Lovers? Did he say… _lovers_? But that was… it was me._ I_ was the lover. I was. How come he used that expression while talking about another woman? Oh my…

I closed my eyes and I took a deep breath. A _very _deep breath. And then, I took another. And hell, just for the sake of trinity, I took a third one before I opened my eyes. I kept trying to stay calm and I looked at Eric's eyes, which were focused on me. Okay... I was feeling calmer then. And he had said that it was just a visit. Just. A. Visit.

So… my _kind of_ husband's trusted friend and lover (_"several times"_ lover) was visiting. Deep breath number four followed. Great. Just… great.

"Sookie", Eric continued with the tone of voice that he always used when he was trying to calm me down, but that actually bothered me, because I knew that he was being condescending with me, "Natércia is my age and she doesn't deal with humans often. It is possible that she won't be happy to meet you."

"Possible?" Pam said. Eric gave her another of his "shut up" looks and she sat back on the couch again.

"Okay, _probable_. It's _probable_ that she won't be happy to meet you. But that's just it. Natércia won't _probably_ be agreeable to you. And I'll have to spend some time with her. She's my friend, after all. But that's just it. She'll visit. She will be rude to everyone but me for a few nights. And then she'll leave. She never stays for long. One, two weeks at the most. And then, like I said, she'll leave."

He said spend some time with her… with the _"several times"_ lover, that Pam had called a "bitch". So, even though I was scared of his next answer, I knew that I had to ask my next question. And after a fifth deep breath, I asked him and I prepared myself for whatever answer he'd give me.

"Will you have sex with her?"

"I'll have sex with you," he said grabbing and kissing my hand. Not good! Oh my God! This was _so_ not good! He didn't answer my question. He did _not_ answer it. Was it by chance or he _intentionally_ didn't answer my question?

"Will you have sex with her?" I repeated myself. But I did it pausing between each couple of words, and it actually sounded like: "_Will you. _Full stop._ Have sex. _Full stop._ With her. _Full stop." I knew it was an awful way to ask him that, but I had to use all the emphasis I could. This was as serious a conversation as we could have. I then quickly wondered why we had been discussing that in front of Pam, but I was just way into it, to worry about Pam. Besides, I was sure that Eric would tell her everything. And even _I_ might end up doing the same. I guess it all depended on his answer.

I took my sixth deep breath of the evening right before he spoke.

"I will not." He said looking at my eyes. And he too paused between each word: "_I._ Full stop. _Will_. Full stop. _Not_. Full stop." And he said it looking _at my eyes_. Oh Jesus! Thank you good God! I relaxed immediately and completely believed him. As Eric himself had once said to me: he might not always tell me everything, but he always tells me the truth.

Yes, I was already feeling much better. Maybe it really was just a regular visit of an old friend. If so, I should do my part as the hostess. I'd receive Eric's friend with my southern grace. "Will she be staying with us?"

"No. I've already reserved a room for her in the new vamps' hotel next to Bloodbath. The… What's the name again, Pam?"

"Continental Hotel," she answered with a bored expression.

"Oh right. That's it. Nat will be spending the night there, Sookie."

So it was "Nat" already, hah? Good to know…

Deep breath number seven did squat to calm me and I then answered him with a bad-tempered "okay." I sure wasn't feeling as well as just a minute before. I was now thinking about Pam's "bitch-calling" and Eric's too frequent meetings with that _Nat_-character.

"Okay?" he repeated me but with an interrogation tone. He had probably heard my thoughts in the tone with which I had said okay. Well, it didn't matter. I was still kind of mad that he had hidden all that from me. He had known about the visit for a month (as in _thirty _damn days) but he had waited until the night _before_ to tell me? What if she had come earlier? Had Eric forgotten about Ocella already?

And now he was asking me if it was okay. Well, it was _not_ okay. It was _so_ not okay. Actually, it was _the opposite _of okay. But there wasn't a thing I could do about it. She was on her way to Louisiana already. Now I could only react the best way possible to all that. And besides, the "why are you just telling me now" part of the conversation should be done without Pam's presence. I'd be telling Eric some hard things for him to hear about it, and I didn't want to do it in front of his "child". Not that Pam was an actual child, like Liz, but I knew that Eric would feel undermined if I admonished him in front of her.

"Yes, okay," I finally answered.

"Okay," he repeated, "so I'm leaving to Fangtasia. I'll be back close to dawn, so don't wait up for me," Eric then got up and quickly gave me a goodnight kiss. The then turned to Pam and asked: "Are you coming with me now? Or you're going to Bloodbath first?"

What? Was he just… leaving to go to Fangtasia all night? After dropping that bombshell on me? Without talking more to me about it? The next night that _Natércia_ was supposed to be there... And Eric had just said that he would be "spending time" with her. And after telling me that… he was leaving? But I didn't have time to speak, because Pam answered him immediately.

"No. Today's just Fangtasia. But I'm not going yet. Liz wants to do a runway show for me with her new clothes from Christmas so I can see her new stuff."

"Oh, great. I'll tell her you're ready for it."

He then went upstairs to say goodnight to Lizzie and left after kissing me goodnight a second time. And I, quite uncharacteristically, just let him leave without uttering a single word.

I could hear my child running upstairs from one bedroom to another, getting everything together for her showroom to Pam. She had been anxious to show her everything since she had received it all on Christmas night.

"You must be careful Sookie," Pam said as soon as Eric left and closed the door behind him.

Careful? Oh God! "Why?" I managed to ask.

"Natércia's at least as old as Eric. Neither of them is completely sure of how old they are, especially Eric, but she's probably a little bit older than he is. They fought once when they met and she won back then. And that's why we think she's older. But not much older. Just a couple of decades,"

Shit. In the vampires handy book (that _still_ doesn't exist) older equals stronger and faster. So, why would Pam be telling me that? Why would I have to be careful that that Natércia was stronger and faster? I sure wouldn't fight her. I had been lucky on the two times that I had attempted and managed to kill a vampire. And those had been just two flukes – both vampires had just been too engrossed into something else (killing a fellow vampire) to care about me. I could only feel fortunate that I hadn't died in either situation. And I sure wouldn't tempt fate, trying to fight a third vampire. I wouldn't. But apparently, Pam thought that _Eric_ might. But, again, why would she say that?

"But… they're friends, Pam. It doesn't matter who's older. They won't fight. She's just visiting, right?"

"Let's hope so. But she's not only Eric's friend, Sookie. Like he said, they've been lovers on-again and off-again for the last 800 years," she said, and I trembled when I heard that word again. _Lovers._

I knew that it was just a word (and apparently a popular one among Pam and Eric), but… Eric had been the only person that I had ever heard call someone "lover" like that and I sure had only been called that by him. But now he was calling someone _else_ "lover"; and Pam was doing it as well… It just… It bothered me. So I could only answer: "Ohh…"

But apparently, that was enough answer for Pam, because she continued: "Up until you showed up, I'd say that Natércia was Eric's mate. You know, she was the one that really helped him when you left. Appius helped Eric break the bond, yes. But it was Natércia that made him live again. And I hate her. I really hate her. But even I have to recognize that she was the one that gave Eric back his _"joi de vivre"_. She was the one that put him back together after you bro… Uhh… It was Natércia that helped Eric,"

Oh. So apparently she was the magical "put-together-_er_" of the Eric I had sort of _broke_ when I left. Me? Breaking Eric? But Pam sounded actually somewhat _grateful_ to that… person, even though Pam hated her. I decided to use Pam's rare willing-to-talk mood and I kept asking her for details:

"Why do you say that?"

"You know Eric loved you right from the beginning, don't you? You have to know that!"

Hearing Pam talking so at-ease about Eric loving me felt great, but I was also sort of embarrassed. I felt myself blushing, and then I nodded and answered her, a whispered "I do now."

"Well, he didn't tell you frankly about it, because he didn't understand it himself back then, but he sure did. And when you left, he went through these… well, moods. He'd have fangbanger after fangbanger for a few months, but then he'd refrain from them altogether for another few months. And he'd be excited about work, but soon he wouldn't care about it… He would want more power from Felipe to run Louisiana, but quickly he'd get tired about it and say that he didn't even want to be Area's 5 Sheriff… Well, it was as if he had multiple-personalities or something."

"Ohh," I said. Well, apparently, it was an "ohh" night. But I truly didn't know what to say. Eric had never told me anything about our time apart.

"Yeah, and not even breaking the bond did the trick. You were still on his head, every freaking night. Do you know that he was once offered a couple of quarter-fairies?"

"Uh… No, I didn't."

"He was. And it was just after Ohio was crowned King. Apparently, he owed Eric for something that happened in Japan like forty or fifty years ago. And he thought of giving them to Eric during a conference as an appreciation gift, kind of thanking him for his help that time in Yokohama. And you know what Eric said?" She asked, but then she didn't give me time to respond to her, because she immediately gave me the answer: "He said he didn't want them. Ohio told him to at least drink a little from them before he refused the gift, but Eric didn't even want to taste the girls. And he didn't. He said that he didn't like the Fae flavor. As if…" Pam quickly rolled her eyes, and then she kept talking, "Everyone thought it was an extremely strange behavior. Didn't like how Fae taste? They thought Eric was crazy! But not me. I knew that he didn't want to sample them because their taste and smell would only make him remember of you. And _that_ was Eric's problem. He couldn't stop thinking about you no matter how hard he tried."

My mouth was dry after that little story. Pam was almost making one hell of a love declaration in Eric's name. And it should have calmed me about that whole "old friend visiting" thing. If Eric had loved me for a decade (and we were apart then), he'd probably continue to love me, no matter who was to visit. Yes, it should have calmed me. But it didn't. Because of Natércia's importance to Eric. And I had to know why. I had to know what she really meant to Eric and who she really was to him. "And Natércia?"

"Well, a few years after you left, Natércia suddenly arrived from Russia. She had been missing for a few years, because she had been caught by some Russian fanatics. And Eric was fucking happy when she showed up because he had thought she had died there after the Great Revelation. You remember the stories about those vampires in Eastern Europe and the Middle East after that night, right?"

I did remember it. Many vampires all around the world had been caught and tortured or even finally killed after the Great Revelation because they were real, they existed and they were among us. Even in the US, there had been lots of incidents, with both human and vampire deaths. But Russia had been one of the worst places and it had been all over the news back then. After I nodded to Pam, she kept talking.

"So he asked her to stay in Louisiana. And she did. For three or four years. And during that time, she fixed him. She made him forget all about you. Or at least forget _enough_ about you, that he sounded normal again. She fixed what you had wrecked in Eric."

What I had _wrecked_ in Eric? Good God. Well, I had always known that Pam spoke her mind no matter what, but _Geez_! Could she, at least, have a _tiny_ mouth filter? Could she _stop_ rubbing in my face what I considered to be one of the biggest mistakes in my life? I didn't want to hear anything more about how I was the "bad guy" and Natércia was the "good girl" that had helped Eric overcome _my _bad deeds. I decided to change the subject. And change it back to the "Natércia's bad" part of the conversation.

"So why do you hate her?"

"After Eric made me a vampire, we were together as a couple for a while. We had just moved from Liverpool to Bath back then and I loved my new life. I was with Eric and I had to obey him, but I was feeling free for the first time ever. I felt that I'd be able to do everything and have everything and everyone I wanted," Pam said smiling. I guessed she was remembering those times.

"And?"

"So, I was with Eric. Everything was okay. We had been together for almost thirty years already. And then Natércia showed up in England. She said she was visiting because they hadn't seen each other for half a century…"

Okay. So that sounded familiar… Except that in my case, they hadn't seen each other for two years, not fifty… Because Pam had paused again, I repeated my previous word: "And?"

"And Eric ended everything with me because of her. He basically told me to get lost. Just like that. It was actually the first time we separated. And it was because of Natércia. She had taken away my maker and the guy who had been pretending to be my husband for three decades in just a couple of nights after her arrival. I hated her for taking away my Eric."

"_Have everyone I wanted"? "My Eric?"_ So… Pam wanted Eric? Their recent… "get together", or, to be more graphic, the _sex_ they had had when I was still in Tennessee came to my mind again…

"Do you… Do you still want _that_ with Eric?"

"Hell no! He has a dick. I'm in a ladies mood now," she immediately said. And like I had believed her when I had discovered about the sex between them, I believed her again.

"So, do you still hate her because she stole Eric from you, two hundred years ago?" I felt a chill run through my body. I remembered the parallelism with Pam's story: Pam and Eric were happy, Natércia showed up, Natércia stole Eric from Pam. That same chill was now getting lodged in my central spine and it was like it was eating away a little bit of my soul. Would Natércia steal Eric from me, too? Luckily, Pam continued talking and scared away my scaring thoughts.

"That was just the first reason that made me hate Natércia. I have many others. She's arrogant, she treats everyone, even vampires, like shit, and she's prejudiced and narrow-minded. She thinks she can do everything she wants and everything has to be her way… And the list goes on, and on… I hate her for many reasons."

She sounded just my opposite. How could Eric even stand to be around Natércia, let alone put up with her for 800 years? Even worse, they weren't just "pals". Pam had called Natércia his "mate" before… Oh God!

"You were saying Natércia is Eric's mate?" My heart pained me when I said those last words _"Natércia is Eric's mate"_. And the same stupid chill kept freezing me inside.

"She was. Now you are. I just hope Natércia sees it that way. I don't want her to try to kill you. For one, you're my friend. And secondly, Eric will battle her to defend you. And I'm not sure if he will win. Eric might lose if they fight."

"Are you ready?" I heard Lizzie's voice asking from the stairs. And then I heard Pam answering her and clapping her hands because the "runway show" was about to start. And Nike was also barking loudly somewhere, which was against his "inside the house rules". But I couldn't hear or think anything other than "Eric might lose" because I knew that after a fight was lost, the winner almost always killed the loser.

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**So? Any thoughts about this chapter? Is Sookie over-reacting? Is this just a normal visit? Or is it something else? Next chapter: Natércia arrives and later she meets Sookie and Liz. How do you see that meeting going? Will both Sookie and Nat "behave"? Will Nat be polite or quite the opposite? I'd love to hear your thoughts about it! Thank you. Célia**

**Keep the Faith is the fifth studio album by the rock band Bon Jovi, released on November 3, 1992. It includes the song "Little Bit of Soul". This song, along with others in the album, represents the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Bon Jovi, which turned away from glam metal in favor of a more mature rock sound. Its lyrics: "**_**When you're mad at the world / And you feel like / You're losing control / What we all need / To get by is just / A little bit of soul / Whoa oh little bit of soul"**_


	37. All Talk, No Action

**Here's my recent chapter, an Eric's POV. My first idea was to have Sookie and Natércia meeting here, but I decided that it would be better to first see it through Sookie's eyes (next chapter). And then, a Natércia's POV! Would you like it? ****Anyway, as usual: these are not my characters, they belong to Charlaine Harris; and all the beta-support was given by the awesome Charhamblin. I hope you'll enjoy the chapter, Célia**

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**Eric "All Talk, No Action"**

I loved Sookie. I did. And I still do. There was no doubt about it. It had taken me too much time (too much damn time) to admit it to myself but I was now absolutely sure of it. And I loved Liz as well. And I had no problem saying that to them. Actually, I was proud that I had become someone with such deep feelings. But outside of our little circle of friends, outside of our _home_, I had to keep the no-feelings SOB vampire Sheriff aura around me. I had to. My safety and their wellbeing too were on the line and it all depended on the fact that others feared me. If I was to be seen as a fragile vampire, with human feelings, I would be exposed to ridicule on the spot; but much worse than that, I would be attacked quickly too. And if others knew that I loved Sookie and Liz as much as I did, they would be used as leverage to control me. And I could not allow that. I _would not_ allow that.

Yes, you must believe me: it was not that I was ashamed of Sookie. Hell, it was quite the opposite. I was absolutely proud of her. And I was always showing everybody that she was mine and I was always making sure that people knew that I would kill for her if I had too. But I just couldn't let other vampires know the kind of relationship we had or the power that Sookie and Liz had over me. Because if people knew it, my family would be used against me and I would be blackmailed over their safety for sure.

So, yeah, I did love Liz as my own daughter. And I did love my wife. And our marriage. Even though Sookie was always calling it just living together.

Pam, on the other hand, used to call it an "equal partnership" kind of relationship.

And she was always saying that we were doing the right thing, because "equal partnership fosters closeness between husband and wife, or life partners, resulting in a stronger and happier marriage", Pam's words. Or rather, words from Pam's magazines or books or… whatever. Well, if that was true or not, I didn't know. But I did feel better about myself now that I was with Sookie than I had ever felt, and I actually loved to share my thoughts and feelings with her. Me! Sharing things! Having feelings! Can you imagine? But it _was_ true!

So, I didn't know about the formal name of our kind of relationship, but I did know that we talked a lot with each other. Besides, I had my rules, she had hers and somehow we always managed to meet in the middle. And how did we manage that? Well, I had made lots of concessions to Sookie's rules (the absence of a blood bond was one of them); but Sookie had also bended her attitude and reaction to a few of my rules (she accepted whenever I told her that something or somewhere wasn't safe enough, for instance, and she now understood that there were some things that I couldn't bloody tell her, even if I wanted to, for her own safety – and she was okay with it). Yes, Pam might have been correct, because "equal partnership" sounded just right.

But even if we were okay with it (hell, we were much more than okay with it; we were happy together), it had to be known just among ourselves. Others, especially vampires, mustn't know about how frequently I gave in to Sookie.

The thing was: vampires did _not_ understand the "equal" concept. Our society had always been, and would always be, based in a system of social stratification and societal restriction, much similar to the Indian caste system. We had _always_ lived and believed in that caste structure, where power, strength and age went hand in hand. The older were more powerful and so had absolute control over the younger. The children obeyed their masters. Regular, non-official vampires complied with Sheriffs who abided by Kings. And that was _among vampires_!

If you were to consider humans… well, then there was not even a question about who was in charge. I mean… humans were just food to us. It would be like being in a relationship with a… pork chop or a lettuce. I mean, impossible. Well, not really impossible. There was actually one other way if a human was willing (or _thought_ that he was willing) to have a relationship with a vampire. And what way was that? Well, as pets. Yes, other than sustenance or nourishment, humans might also be seen as pets. Or rather, as _just pets_. And they, obviously, had to obey (completely and utterly obey) their owners. A human-pet was a human that a vampire would keep close by for a considerable amount of time. And those pets were kept for companionship and a vampire's enjoyment, as opposed to just a feed and fuck. The most popular reasons to keep a human-pet were for their loyal or playful characteristics, for their attractive appearance, or just to have some warm blood at the vampire's disposition _at all times_.

And Sookie was _so_ not a pet. I was grateful that _she_ kept _me_ close by her, and not the other way around. But we were an exception. Personal relationships between humans and vampires were not like ours. And they usually fell into the "feed and fuck" or "pet" categories.

Yes, since the Great Revelation we had increased our businesses with humans and there were all kind of deals and contracts between the two species. But a personal relationship with a human? A personal _prolonged_ relationship with a human? Not so much – except, like I said, as pets.

Well, I would say that a few of the young vampires, namely those turned after the Great Revelation, or just a few years before that, _might_ look at a human and see a person. But the rest of us? Absolutely not! And as you would get older and older, the more you would see them as just a feed or a pet. And Natércia was definitely included in those who saw humans just as walking and talking blood bags. And if I was to be truthful, so did I. Not everyone, of course – there were the one or two valid humans amongst the poll. But most humans were really so young, so petty and so stupid that seeing them as intelligent creatures was really tough. Sookie stood out, obviously. She was like an oasis on the fucking desert. I was just hoping Natércia would see her that way.

Of course that, as a Sheriff, I could prohibit her from coming into my Area. Or even Louisiana all together, for that matter, because the other Sheriffs obeyed me. But Nat was my friend. And even though I was worrying about her reaction towards Sookie, I still kind of wanted her to visit. I wanted to show Natércia that I was a new vampire and I was confident that, as soon as the first shock from meeting Sookie would pass, Nat would be happy for me, because I was happy too.

Anyway, on the night when I told Sookie that Nat was visiting, I then went to Fangtasia. I had several problems to attend to because De Castro had decided that he needed the New Orleans' Sheriff in Nevada with him, and so I was managing that Area as well. After a few hours of cleaning vampires' mess, I left Fangtasia and went home. You can't believe the fucking problems that one single video of a vampire feeding in public on a human still raised; and New Orleans had dozens of stupid vampires living there… you know, the whole Anne Rice thing apparently attracted all kind of brainless vampires.

But, as I was saying, as soon as I left the bar, I drove home. When I arrived, I checked both my girls (and my new dog), who were sleeping, before I went to my basement bedroom and died for the day. Natércia would be arriving on the following night, and I really wanted a good day sleep so I would wake up rested.

And I did wake up rested. But I didn't wake up alone. And if you think that I woke up with a sexy and naked Sookie, you're wrong. I mean, Sookie was there, and she was always sexy; but she wasn't naked and she wasn't just by herself either.

In fact, that next night, I woke up to the voice of a child and the feeling of tiny hands grabbing and shaking my arm, trying to wake me up.

"What about now, mom? Is it time already?" Lizzie asked right before I started moving and opening my eyes. Why was Liz there? Had Sookie changed her mind about letting Elizabeth see me dead? Well, apparently she had. But why? I was suddenly brought back from my thoughts, to my present situation when, as soon as I opened my eyes, Liz immediately kissed my cheek and hugged my neck.

"Dad, you were really, really, really, really sleeping," she said.

For the last three or four months, she had developed this annoying, annoying, annoying habit of repeating the same word several times in the same sentence. At first we were kind of worried, and Sookie even took her to her pediatrician because of it. But he explained to us that it was not any disease like Palilalia, when one repeats or echoes one's own spoken words. According to Liz's doctor, it was just a little speech "quirk" that would pass as soon as Lizzie got tired of it. And so, as soon as we knew that there wasn't any development problem with Liz, we calmed down and started to see it with different eyes.

And Sookie absolutely hated it. But I thought it was funny. It was completely child-like, and I always felt privileged that I was having my second shot at parenthood (and this time I would stay around). Besides, it bothered Sookie and I liked to tease her with it. And that was why before I answered Liz, I smiled at her words.

"Yes, I was, baby," I said looking at both Liz and Sookie. And you know what? It was great to wake up to them both there, in my basement room. Okay, Sookie alone naked was pretty good too; but waking up with both Liz and Sookie was great as well.

But I was really confused too. Sookie and I had talked about it, and we had concluded that Liz, at 7 years old, was still too young to see me dead. Or rather, we didn't conclude that – it was more like I hadn't been able to convince Sookie that Liz wouldn't have a problem with it.

"You're witty, witty when you sleep," Liz said at the same moment that she started giggling, "mom even let me put a little bit of water in your neck, but you kept sleeping. Really, really sleeping," she added smiling and whispering, with a tone of voice that showed me that she knew that putting water in my neck was a bad deed.

"Yes, I was really, really sleeping," I answered her, imitating her high voice tone. I then grabbed Liz and pulled her to the middle of the bed and started tickling her face with my hair. She loved when I grabbed a lock of hair and used it as a brush on her face.

"You're funny when you speak like me, dad," she said laughing. I was her personal clown. But I didn't have a problem with it. I loved to be Lizzie's clown.

"Ohh, I'm funny, you say," I told her while I tickled her, now with my hands, and she kept laughing.

But just a few minutes after that, Liz was ready to leave us, "I'm going upstairs now, okay? Nike's all by himself, and he might need something or even be afraid to be alone," she said and immediately left after kissing me and her mother. Nike! The dog was the only thing that she had thought about for the last month, since Christmas. It was "Nike did this", "Nike did that", "Nike likes it", "Nike doesn't like it"… You know something? Both Sookie and I were already kind of jealous of Nike.

As soon as we heard the door closing behind Liz, Sookie walked towards the bed and took Lizzie's place, laying on it with me. Her face was thoughtful.

"Are you okay?" I asked her whispering.

She nodded and kissed me silently but didn't answer.

"You sure?" I insisted. I knew that I had told her some important stuff on the previous night about my past with Natércia. I hoped that Sookie understood that it all belonged in my past and that it wouldn't interfere with our present.

She nodded again and put her arm around my torso.

I knew that her mind was going at 500 miles per hour. I could almost hear her thinking and I knew that she wasn't okay. But I let her be. During the past two years, we had both learned how to give the other space. We did love each other as we hadn't ever thought possible, but we weren't conjoined twins and we didn't have to spend all out time together, nor share every single detail of our lives. Yes, we talked about a lot of things, but only when we wanted to. So I didn't insist anymore. I really wanted to know why she had changed her mind concerning Liz seeing me dead, though, but I'd give her time to tell me.

Therefore, we just stayed there, hugging in silence for a few more minutes.

"So…" she eventually started saying, "I remembered that you said that telling Ocella that you had already spent your days with me was what made him see how important I am to you…" Okay, so here it would come, the reason why; I nodded and she continued, "And that's why I decided that I want you to sleep with me upstairs. The room is light-secured, you slept there sometimes before we came to live here, and there's the alarm too, so it's safe as well…"

It was as if Sookie was trying to convince herself and not me. But then, she stopped talking and moved her eyes from my face to my shoulder. I knew she was unconsciously telling me that she was having difficulty continuing talking. She didn't want to tell me the real reason behind what had happened that evening. But I wouldn't let her off the hook. So I kept in silence as well. And that would break Sookie, as I had learned even before she had left to Tennessee. Sookie always felt uncomfortable when, in the middle of a conversation, there was a silence. She always felt the need to fill that void.

Pam's theory was that Sookie did it because with humans, that pause would give them the opportunity to think, and Sookie didn't want to hear their thoughts, and so she didn't give them too much time without speaking. Whereas I just thought that it was one more of the _Sookienities_ that I had grown to love, and I just didn't care about the reason why.

But, no matter what the reason, keeping your silence always worked if you wanted to make Sookie talk. And soon, Sookie was speaking again: "And I talked to Liz. She already knows that you're a vampire. She knows you sleep all day. And today she saw you,"

I wanted to ask her why. But I figured I'd discover it without even without being so blunt about it. And instead, I just made her another question, "how did she react?"

"She only thought it was funny. She kept saying how she will paint your nails pink while you are sleeping next time you ground her."

"Okay," I answered. Sookie hadn't yet told me the true motive for all that. But, like I said, we had learned to give each other space and I knew that she'd tell me or perhaps show me with her behavior soon. And so, instead of pursuing the subject, I pulled her even closer to me and kissed her hard while my hands dropped from her back to her ass and upper legs – Sookie no longer used her short shorts (now _I_ sounded like Liz… _short shorts_) with the same frequency that she once did. But even through her jeans' fabric, I could feel the smoothness of the skin in her legs and her warmness all around.

I started kissing her neck and one of my hands had just moved to her breasts when she asked me if I was hungry. And… was she kidding me? I was _always_ hungry for her, so I said "mm hhm". Or better yet, I mumbled it because I was still kissing her neck. With Liz awake and close-by (although upstairs), we would have to be quiet, but we had managed it quite a few times already. In fact, the danger of possibly being caught was exciting. Besides, I knew that we had time for a quickie and I could feel her body temperature rising with each of my kisses. And so, when she offered me her wrist I just whispered in her ear "won't you like it best if I bite you when you are coming all over my cock, lover?"

I knew that she both loved and hated when I spoke to her like that. But between her love and hate, my words always made her horny. And her body temperature really _was_ getting higher with each of my kisses.

But, strangely, she dismissed me in a second. "Oh, no. No way Eric. Later. Not now. You just have a taste now if you want, and then you must dress. I'm not in the mood. Besides, Lizzie might come in here and your friend is coming tonight."

Aw. Natércia's visit. It was not that she wasn't in the mood for sex, nor that Lizzie might come in there. It was Natércia. And that explained a lot. It explained her silence when she laid beside me on the bed; it explained the reason why she wanted Liz to see me dead, so I would start sleeping upstairs; and it explained the "no sex now".

Sookie was nervous because of Nat's visit. And yes, I was kind of nervous too, but I definitely didn't want Sookie to worry about it. So I just kept kissing her neck and her lips for a few more minutes, trying to take away her stress. When I figured that I wouldn't succeed and Sookie would stay nervous, I told her that I'd drink from her later and that we should go upstairs instead.

But then, she looked me with scared eyes. Why was she reacting that way? Was it because I hadn't taste her? Was she afraid that I didn't want her anymore? I had said that I would taste her later, because I really didn't need to have blood then. Did she think it meant I didn't want her somehow? Women!

I immediately told her that I had changed my mind and that I indeed wanted her blood. Smiling, she offered me her wrist again. I drank a mouthful from her and then I dressed and went upstairs.

Sookie was still very nervous, I could tell. But that did not prevent us from having a nice evening as a family, just the three of us. Well, with Nike too, obviously. Then, later, because 9 pm was Lizzie's bedtime, we went upstairs with her to make sure that she'd brush her teeth and to read her a story. And that night, it was a modern version of the Sleeping Beauty story where the prince was a singer in a famous pop group, who wanted to join another band, Sleeping Beauty's Band, and the "witch" was his manager, who wanted to prevent it and so she made Sleeping Beauty drink too much (I wondered if it was an alcohol-awareness program somehow)… Damn! We'd have to buy her the traditional version ASAP; that one was just too crazy for a 7-year-old.

Forty minutes later, Liz was already sleeping and Sookie and I were watching some stupid TV documentary downstairs about the everyday life of a group of freaking weres in a polygamous marriage in Northern Arizona. And just the fact that we were watching it, showed that neither of us had our mind right there and then, because otherwise we'd already have changed to another TV channel.

"Is your friend coming here? To our place?" Sookie suddenly asked me right before she changed to a Detectives' TV-show (but only because the polygamous weres' documentary had ended).

"Not tonight. I'll meet her at 4 am at Bloodbath. Then I'll drive her to the hotel; show her where she's going to stay. She might come here tomorrow or not at all. I don't know if Nat's going to want to visit our house or not,"

"Do you want her to meet me?"

"I don't know. Like I said, she's not properly nice with humans. But I want her to understand that I'm not the same vampire I was, and the best way to do it is for her to see how happy we are together," I said.

And I thought that it was a pretty good answer too. The kind of answer that would calm Sookie down. But when she didn't answer me, I tried again: "Sookie, she's my friend. She's obnoxious to most people, but she's my friend and I like her, and I also like to spend time with her. But like I said yesterday, that's just it. There's nothing more. There was in the past, but not anymore. I am with you now,"

She whispered an extremely quiet "I know that."

And screwing the "give her space" strategy, I bluntly asked: "If you know that, why the silent treatment? Did I do something? Or did something happen today? Or is this just because a friend of mine is visiting?"

"Everything's okay," she said, still whispering and still focused on the TV screen.

"No, it is not. Talk to me, lover. Tell me what's bothering you," I almost begged.

Sookie kept her eyes glued on the television for a couple of minutes, before she looked back at me and asked: "Will you spend the day at the hotel?"

She was jealous. It was just jealousy. And she was just being silly because there was no need for her to be jealous… But with reason or not, it would be up to me to show her that she had nothing to worry about. I moved towards her and I took her face in both my hands. We were looking each other on the eyes when I said with a serious and truthful tone: "Of course not. I'll spend the day here, with you."

And that did the trick. She calmed down on the spot. But she still wasn't smiling, so I used my hands to move her face towards me and I kissed her – first a shy little kiss, but then I deepened the kiss while I moved my hands to her waist and brought her to my lap. A few minutes later, when I decided that she had been properly kissed, I let her sit on the couch again.

An old Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep movie was just starting and then we stayed there hugging and watching the movie for the next couple of hours. Once in a while, I'd kiss her hair and she kept one of her hands moving up and down my thigh the whole time. But soon, it was pouring rain in the movie, and Clint Eastwood's character, a photographer, was leaving Madison County while Meryl Streep, a housewife, was left crying for him, right next to her husband, who didn't have a clue that she was in love with the photographer. Francesca wondered if she should follow her heart and leave Madison County, or instead do what was expected of her, and stay with the man she had married but who she didn't love; and, at last, because she froze and didn't react either way, she saw Clint Eastwood's character standing and later driving away in the rain, without even a last word being spoken between them.

The credits were starting when I heard a big sigh from Sookie, but she still appeared calm after her little previous outburst. "Are you okay?" I asked again.

"Yes," she replied, whispering.

"You sure?" She didn't look okay.

"Huh, uh," she nodded and then proceeded to kiss me. And it _was_ a good kiss. I mean, she was into it. So, maybe she _was_ okay. But our kiss was soon interrupted by my phone ringing. A representative from Felipe de Castro, a vampire called Mark Sottomayor, and a couple of his aides, had just arrived at Fangtasia, and Clancy was telling me about it. I asked him if Sottomayor had asked for me and Clancy said that he didn't. So I told him to call Pam and ask her to go there and keep an eye on them for me.

Sookie was still with half her body on top of mine when, as soon as I ended the phone call, she asked if I had to leave then. And I did. Without the New Orleans' Sheriff, and with Natércia in Shreveport, I was sure that I would have less time to do the bars' work, and so I knew that I would have to work a little more that night to compensate it.

"Yes, I do. I'm sorry, Sookie."

"It's okay. It's past midnight already and I have to sleep too,"

But I didn't leave immediately. Instead, we kept kissing for a little while until she said: "Please, will you wake me when you get here?"

On week nights, Sookie didn't want to awake when I got home because she had to wake up very early herself because of Liz. So that was an unexpected request.

"I'm meeting Natércia at 4. I'll come back late, lover," I answered her.

"I don't care. Just wake me, okay? I want to know that you're home with me. And besides, you're sleeping upstairs tonight, right?"

I told her that she could bet that I was sleeping upstairs, and that I would wake her for sure, which granted me another kiss. And another. And another. And after we kissed again for a few more minutes, I finally left.

Almost five hours later, I was in my Bloodbath's office when Natércia entered it. She was dressed quite uncharacteristically, with some light blue jeans and a baby pink t-shirt. Nat was almost always a formal-clothes kind of gal, but that style looked great on her too.

All the patrons and staff had already left and we were just by ourselves. I quickly wondered how she had entered into the building, because its doors should be closed, but I said nothing about it. Nat closed the door of my office behind her.

"You are late. You said you'd be here at 4. It's past 5 am now and the sun will rise at 6.30," I said.

"I was detained by a lovely meal," she said smiling.

I could tell she had had blood recently. Her checks were almost rosy. She looked great in her light colored clothes, which contrasted with her long, dark hair.

"You are late nonetheless," I said while I left the chair behind my desk and walked in Natércia's direction.

"What a shitty greeting Eric," she said laughing out loud, before she closed the distance between us and almost attacked my mouth with her lips and my neck and shoulders with her arms.

Something instinctual in me recognized the wrongness of it and made me push her kiss away, but Nat was as strong as I was, and she kept glued to me. And then some other instinct in me recognized her smell and her lips after thousands of nights together, and I grabbed both her waist and her hair with my hands, and I kissed her back. Nat was almost feral in her kissing and she clutched to me like she wanted to possess me. And, I'm afraid, I did the same. I didn't need to be careful with Natércia, she was as tough as I was and I could be myself with her, and for a couple of minutes it felt great to be able to kiss and hug her will all my strength. But suddenly, Sookie's image crossed my mind and I recognized what I was doing (the _huge mistake_ of what I was doing) and I ended the kiss.

"Come, I'll show you your hotel," I said moving us out of the bar and keeping a safe distance from Nat. Shit! I had kissed her back. Fuck. I hadn't intended on doing anything like that. How the fuck had I kissed her back? _Why_ the fuck had I done it? Shit! I hadn't wanted to do it. I swear, I didn't want Nat like that again. It was just that… Well, it didn't matter that I called Nat my best friend. She was much more than that. We had had an 800-year-old romantic relationship. It was almost like an "open marriage"… We had always been there for each other, while still being able to sleep with other people too. Yes, Nat and I were a lot more than "best friends." Or rather, we had been. We weren't anymore. And we wouldn't be anymore. Now I was with Sookie. And I _wanted_ to be with Sookie. Just Sookie. I'd have to stay away from Natércia and also tell her all about Sookie. Like: _now_.

"Hotel? Won't I stay at your place?" Nat asked moments later, when we entered her car. She gave me the car keys and I sat behind the wheel without saying a word and without even a second thought about it, because I knew that she hated to drive. Nat hadn't asked me to do it and I hadn't offered. But I had moved towards the driver side, while she had walked towards the passenger's side. It was like… We just _knew_ that it was our way. She hated driving, while I didn't mind. So I always drove. We didn't even need to talk about it. It was just… _our way_. And we had _our way_ with everything; we always knew what the other wanted because we had already gone through everything with each other… Whereas Sookie and I were still trying to get into terms with each other. Sookie. I really needed to tell Nat about her.

But the strangest thing was that, even though I was sure that I loved Sookie much more than I loved Nat, and despite the fact that Sookie was my wife, I was feeling that I was cheating Nat with Sookie. Was that a fucked up situation, or what? Hell.

I decided to take the dive, and get it over with. I loved Sookie and I was with her now. And Nat should be told that. "No, you'll be staying at the hotel rather than my place. I… I have someone there," I quickly paused and then I added, "A human."

"A human? My, oh my! Eric Northman has a pet," Natércia said with a mocking laugh.

For obvious reasons, I had had many humans during my 1000 years of existence. But I had never been one to keep exclusive relationships with humans. They were just there, to be drunk from whenever I wanted. And I would almost always have them living in some place other than my house. So, I could see why Nat would tease me about having a pet. But the thing was: Sookie was definitely no pet. And I had to make Natércia understand it.

"It's not like that. We have been together for a while and I like her. And she's not a pet. She is important to me," I said. And it was the truth: Sookie was no pet. She was my wife and my family. She and Liz were the most important part of my life now.

"Of course she is," she answered. And you know what? A recording of Natércia's voice saying exactly that sentence with that tone of voice should be linked to every dictionary in the world, right next to the entry and the definition of "sarcasm".

"I mean it, Nat. We have been together for two years now. Her child lives with us too. I like them. A lot." I actually _loved _them, not _liked_ them. But I had to tell Nat one thing at a time.

"How fucking cute, Eric. You have a fucking family," she answered. No mocking or sarcastic voice tone this time. It was more like… almost an "I'm not enjoying this conversation…. at all" voice tone.

"Yes, I do," I answered her immediately. It bothered me that she was calling "fucking family" to Sookie and Liz. But Natércia would always be Natércia and, even with her last voice tone, she was actually reacting to the news better than I was expecting. After all, she had arrived at Shreveport thinking that she'd be staying at my place with me, and I had just told her that she'd be sleeping alone at a hotel.

"Will I meet that… _family_ of yours?"

"If you want… But you don't have to, if you don't." I said while I parked her car at the hotel's principal door. Continental Hotel was very close to Bloodbath and the drive there had taken even less than ten minutes.

"Are you kidding me? Of course I want to meet your human friends," she looked at me smiling and she licked her lips before she added, "Come here tomorrow at 8 pm to pick me up and tell your human I'll meet her at 2 am,"

I didn't answer right away and I just stared at her. Last time I had seen her, she had had her hair with curls, but that night it was straight. And it looked good on her. Besides, she was smiling at me. And I had always loved Nat's smiles. Actually, I had always loved _that_ smile in particular. And I knew that smile. Very well. And I also knew what she meant with that "pick me at 8 pm and we'll arrive there at 2 am" discourse plus _that_ smile. She was saying that she wanted me to fuck her for six hours nonstop and just _after that_ we would go to my place.

Following the kiss from before, there was no way (absolutely _no fucking way_) I would be caught alone with Natércia in a hotel room. I did love Sookie and I really did not want to cheat on her. And I still hadn't figured out how the hell I had ended kissing Nat back when she arrived. Because, like I said, I loved Sookie. But Natércia and I? We went way back. Way, way back. We had spent thousands of nights together. And you can't just forget that from one moment to another. And after those thousands of nights, kissing Nat was something completely natural for me – I had done it _millions_ of times. So… yeah, I wouldn't give her a chance to make me kiss her back again, let alone fuck her, so I just said, with the more serious voice tone I could muster: "I will pick you at 8 and we will meet her at 8.30. We can talk later, at Deadliest, if you want Nat,"

She just looked at me (she was no longer smiling) and she left the car without uttering a single word. I saw her enter her hotel and I nodded to a bellboy to come and pick her suitcase from the car, and I gave him her car keys.

I flown back to Bloodbath and then I drove my Porsche back home, I parked it and then I went to my room upstairs with Sookie. It would be great to start spending my days there, next to her and not in my basement room. I undressed and took a quick shower. I put on a t-shirt and boxers and then I laid beside Sookie under the bed sheets. I put my hand on Sookie's waist (she was sleeping with her back to me) and I woke her up with a whispered: "I am home, lover."

Still kind of sleeping, she asked if everything was all right and I told her yes. She then turned around on the bed, and moved towards me. She kissed my neck and started rubbing herself on my body. She only had her panties and a small top on and she smelled great, as always. So, getting turned on by her, right then and there, would be the easiest thing on the world. Except, it wasn't. And then, something unheard of happened when she touched my cock through my boxers to initiate sex: I didn't want to do it. That night, for the first time ever, I was _all talk, no action_. So I lied and told her it was just _two minutes_ to dawn and we wouldn't have time, so we should just sleep. Still sluggish in her sleep, she was easy to convince to skip the sex. And so, she nodded, turned around again, with her back towards me, and she was sleeping again in one minute. Almost _an hour_ later, at dawn, so was I.

* * *

**So? What do you think about it? Eric turning down sex with Sookie? That must be a first in this website, right? Oh, and the movie they watched was "Bridges of Madison County", a 1995 American romantic drama film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Robert James Waller. Anyway, I hope that you've enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for reading. Cheers from Portugal, Célia**

"**The Power Station Years" is an unofficial album released in the fall of 1999. It is a compilation of original demo songs cut by Jon Bon Jovi (then known by his birth name John Bongiovi) recorded at New York's The Power Station studio where he worked before later forming Bon Jovi in 1983 (my birth year). It includes the song "All Talk, No Action". It starts this way: **_**"First time I saw you girl / I knew that it wouldn't be long / I tried holding back my feelings / But you came on so strong / No one told me about her / But I know they all knew / That I know all about the girls / That do the things you do / Cause you're all talk, no action / You're all talk, no action."**_


	38. Never Say Goodbye

**Hello! It's the weekend again! :) YAY! And I'm off to the beach. But before I left, I had to update. So, here's another chapter for you. Now, just a few comments… First of all, this is how **_**Sookie**_** saw things. That's **_**not **_**necessarily the exact truth – sometimes we see things differently than reality, because our judgment is clouded, or because we just see what we were **_**expecting**_** to see rather than what was really there. Secondly, Natércia sometimes lies/embellishes the truth, so don't you believe in everything she's saying. Thank you for reading. Take care! Célia**

* * *

**Sookie "Never Say Goodbye"**

When I woke up, Eric was in his boxers and t-shirt, laying next to me, on his back. And he had a hand on my thigh. Or, better yet, he had his _huge_ hand on my thigh, almost _grabbing_ it possessively. And you know what? I liked it. The fact that, even when he was dead to the world, he wanted to, somehow, get a hold on to me, calmed me a lot. And I felt that no matter how many ex-girlfriends would visit, we would still be okay.

Yes, I was still pretty mad at him that he had kept his… _friend_'s visit a secret from me for a month (and I'm not even talking about the fact that he hadn't _ever_ talked to me about such a person before, _at all_). But he was Eric. It was intrinsic to his personality for him to try to shield me away from every single worry or care in the world. And I was sure, that in his head, he had hidden it from me for "my own good". Because he knew that that visit would bother me, he had postponed my knowledge of it for as long as possible. But the problem was that I'd rather know about the problems earlier, than be suddenly caught in the middle of it already. However, in Eric's mind, he was only playing his part, as "the man", and sheltering me from fears and qualms for as long as he could.

Besides, I kind of owed him to try to _deal with_ that… _Natércia_. My friendship with Sam still annoyed Eric because he… well, he _hated_ Sam. Not that he was jealous of him because Sam still liked me. No, it wasn't it. Besides, Sam wasn't interested in me anymore. He was now happily married with four (yes, four!) kids – two girls, ages 7 and 5, and a couple of 3-year-old twin boys. He still owned Merlotte's and he had married the new waitress (a regular human, not shifter or were) that had substituted me when I left to Tennessee.

And the thing was: when I left to Cleveland, Eric had obviously stopped dealing with Sam, and so, he hadn't known that he had married in the meantime. And when I showed him the pictures of the twins' first birthday, two years ago, Eric just start laughing and teasing me, because Sam's wife was physically like me _and _Sam's waitress. And so, Eric kept laughing at me and saying that if Sam had known that he would marry his next blond and tanned waitress, he would have done what Eric himself had wanted back then, and fired me _years_ before I left. So, no, it wasn't that Eric was jealous of Sam, because he also knew that Sam had never even been a possibility in my mind. Eric's problem with him was that _David_ had been Sam's friend. They had met in their early twenties in Texas, and Sam had been the one who introduced me to David and got me the job at Brown's Rest & Grill, which ultimately ended with me marrying my boss.

But even more than my friendship with Sam, what really bothered Eric was my friendship with Bill. Yes, whenever I'd go to Bon Temps to be with Jason, Sam or Tara, and their families, I always tried to visit Bill too because we were still good friends (I would never forget how sick he had looked after the Face War, when I was pregnant with Liz… and all because of me). And even though he still, _kind of_, slightly hit on me, I knew that he understood that we were just friends. And I, for my part, actually enjoyed his company very much. And Bill was… well, he was pretty much the same (actually, he was _exactly_ the same) as he had been more than a decade before. And just as he had captivated me then, he still did it now. I mean, he obviously looked the same… being a vampire and all. But it was more than that, he still lived on the same house (that was exactly like before), and he still worked on his data-base and travelled once in a while to update it. But the main thing was that Bill still had that mysterious and dangerous, but also shy and morose, as well as gentlemanly air about him that he had had before.

What can I say? Bill would always be an important person in my life; he was my first love and the first man that had showed some interest in me, making me believe that I was worth something and that I was _not_ a social pariah. And now, all these years after his betrayal, I had been able to completely forget about it, and forgive him his lies, and just ripe the fruits of our friendship. And Bill _was_ a good friend. We would talk for a couple of hours about my life and his life, and then I would leave feeling good about myself because I had confided in my friend and he had done the same. And _that_ bothered Eric like nothing else. But he didn't comment on it anymore and he didn't even sulk or brood whenever Bill and I meet. He usually would only insist that I shower (for a long time) to keep Bill's smell away from me.

So, yes, I really owed Eric to try to… _get along_ with that… _Natércia_.

But even with the feeling that we would still be okay, I was nervous. So I kept myself busy that day. I had breakfast with Lizzie and drove her to school. I did lots of little tasks (besides working at the bars, I was also sort of Eric and Pam's day helper, alongside with Bobby Burnham – who still loathed me as much as 12 years before) and interviewed three possible new waitresses to fulfill a vacancy in Deadliest (because of my mind-reading skills, I always interviewed potential employees).

And later that day, I drove Lizzie to her ballet class. She had started going there once or twice a week (if she had extra swimming trainings for some local competition, she'd go to the ballet only once a week). Her first ballet class had been a few months before, when a Ballet School opened close to Pam's house. Actually it was in the same street. And Pam, being Pam, immediately paid for Lizzie's inscription and the first year's tuition there _and _she talked Liz into ballet. But, to be truthful, Lizzie, being Pam's fan _all the way_, was really easy to convince. And why that sudden need for ballet? Because, as Pam said over and over again, "young girls must be taught to have a proper posture." And you know something? You can take a vampire from his time and place of birth, but you really can't take the time and place of birth out of the vampire. Sometimes, you could _really_ tell that Pam had been born in an upper-class English family in the early 18th century. All vampires were that way… Deep down, they could never forget their origins. Eric was exactly the same. And don't even get me talking about Eric's Viking's rampants… especially on bed!

Later that day, at 6 pm, after Lizzie's ballet lesson, we got home. I had called for a pizza and we both ate as soon as it arrived, to Liz's delight. The girl just loved pizza! And, for her, it was especially good, because it wasn't a "Second Sunday pizza night" (we always had pizza every couple of weeks, on Sundays). But I just wasn't in the mood to cook. At all.

Anyway, we usually waited for Eric to have our dinner. But the pizza place had been way quicker that night with their delivery. And because we didn't want to waste a good, _hot_ pizza, we were already finishing our dinner when Eric met us after he woke up.

"You didn't wait for me to have your dinner? Wow. What hungry ladies I have here… You know, I woke up so hungry for pizza, but you didn't even leave me a tiny bit…" he said with a happy and stress-free voice, when he kissed my cheek and then Lizzie's.

"Dad! You don't eat pizza," Liz told him, smiling.

"I don't?" He asked her, smiling back at her.

Kind of giggling, she answered, "Nooo…."

"For real?"

"Uh-huh."

"And what about your juice? Can I taste it, at least?

"You don't drink juice either, dad," she answered him, still giggling.

"You sure?"

She answered him that she was sure and he just told her that she was right and that he had only forgotten about it. We had already started talking about Lizzie's ballet class that day, with the three of us just sitting there, around the kitchen table as a family, when Nike did some noise in the living room and Liz immediately asked to be excused from the table because Nike "needed" her. She barely waited for my "yes" and she left towards her puppy.

"Nike," I said sighting to Eric.

"Nike," he told me back, rolling his eyes.

For the last month, Nike was the only thing that really mattered to Liz. She loved to play with the puppy, wash him, feed him and she had even tried to dress him… twice! So, her choosing to leave the table when she was telling us about her ballet class and the new teacher that would be substituting her actual ballet teacher for the next two weeks (Ms Charlene had gotten married that weekend and wouldn't be teaching her class for two more weeks), so she could attend to Nike's "needs" was something… well, _expected_.

But that night, it was actually good that she had chosen her dog over Eric and I, because there was something that I wanted to talk to him about, and I knew that he wouldn't be speaking about his _friend_ freely in front of Liz.

And to tell you the truth, I was dreading that conversation. But I was also very curious as well.

"So, how was it yesterday? Uhm…with your friend?" I asked him. I still remembered that Eric had woken me late last night, as I had asked him to do, but we hadn't had the chance to talk then because I was way too sleepy. But I really wanted to know now about his… _friend._

"It was okay. Natércia was late, so I basically just drove her to the hotel and then I came home. We… uuhh… No. She… I mean, I… no, she…" and then he paused, and I thought that that had been strange, but he quickly kept talking again, "she said she would like to meet you, and we decided I would pick her at 8 pm tonight," he finally said.

"Okay," I answered.

"We will come back here then, so you two can get to know each other," he added. His happy and stress-free voice wasn't there anymore. But he didn't sound particularly worried about that meeting either. Maybe it was something else (other than me meeting that Natércia person) that was worrying him…? But what could have happened the night before that was worrying Eric?

But then, suddenly, I realized that I actually didn't want to know about his friend, or anything that had to do with that…_ woman_. And so, I changed our conversation to the three girls I had interviewed that early afternoon and how not one of them had experience enough to waitress at a such an usually crowed place. They were just fangbangers that only wanted to job to be close to vampires. And we needed someone with past jobs waitressing. But soon, just a little after we had started that talk, Eric said that he had to leave to go get… _her._

And the thing is: I knew I was nervous. And anxious. And kind of afraid to meet that Natércia person. But I was trying to hide it. And I had thought that I had been playing it cool that night, and that I had managed to conceal my nervousness from Eric. But, obviously, I hadn't succeeded in it. And how did I know that he had seen my edginess? Because just after Eric kissed me goodbye, he also whispered: "I have never loved anyone the way I love you. You must believe that not a single person, ever since I was turned, in more than 1000 years, meant to me as much as you and Liz do. No matter what, just know that I love you,"

Okay. I had needed to hear that. So… _thank you Eric. _I kissed him back and told him I loved him as well.

"And lover, please be patient with Natércia, okay? Just… stay calm. It's a night just like every other," he said after he came back from running upstairs to tell Liz that he was leaving but would be back soon. I said that I would be patient and stay calm.

But just five minutes after he left, I panicked. What about Liz? Was she supposed to meet Natércia as well? There was still almost an hour and a half until Lizzie's bedtime. If he arrived home earlier than that, then Liz would be up and she would meet that Natércia character. Did Eric want her to meet his friend? Did I?

I immediately grabbed my cell and I called Eric.

"Lizzie is here. Will she meet your friend too?" I asked as soon as he picked the phone.

"Of course, lover. You are my wife and we are a family. But… let's just make sure she goes to bed at 9 pm sharp tonight, alright?"

"But she calls you dad since Christmas…" I added. I knew that Eric was extremely happy with that "dad-calling" thing. But not next to other vampires. Raising the orphan daughter of a were-bear is not something _vampirish_. And I knew that Eric had to keep his "badass" image when he was with other vampires. I mean, most vampires in Louisiana knew that I was with Eric now, and that I had a daughter that also lived with him. But that was it. No vampire other than Pam knew how much Eric cared about us. Well, Bill also knew because I had told him (I knew I could trust him) but he hadn't seen them together yet. Was Eric willing to be with Liz in front of Natércia? Did he trust her so?

"And I am proud of her. Sookie, just relax," Eric answered me.

"But, Liz won't know that she has to stay away from you and pretend that you're not her dad…"

"And she doesn't have to stay away or pretend that I'm not her dad. Nat's an old friend. There's no problem with her knowing about us. I trust her. And you just need to calm down, lover," he then told me.

Again, I answered him that I would stay calm and then I hung up.

I immediately called Liz (she was upstairs) and told her to go and put Nike in the garage. Nike had been spending his nights there for the last week, after he had slept in Lizzie's room for the first three weeks of his stay with us. After she came back from the garage, I made her sit with me on the living room couch and then I started telling her that a lady was going to visit us soon.

"It's like when you meet the headmistress of your new school, okay? Do you remember when you met her?" Liz nodded and I continued, "It's the same tonight. You must behave Liz and you must stay quiet and silent, as well. Alright? You _must_ behave, baby. Do you hear me? You have to conduct yourself like the good girl I know you are. So, just behave, okay baby?" And you know what? Even a 7-year-old can tell when something's not right. And my daughter just knew that her mom was worried about something. So she said that she would behave and stay quiet that night.

A little over half an hour later, Liz and I were both watching TV, when we heard the front door and then a female voice: "So, Álvaro has been nagging me about it for the last year and I've actually been thinking about letting him make a vampire."

"Álvaro" was such a vampire-name as well. Did these people have a "vampire-names" book? Where did they find all those names? Well, I guess that they found those names in past centuries… And again I remembered how I had thought that Bill's name was just so… _ordinary_ when I met him. I think that I even told him something about it that first night when I saved him from a couple of drainers. But I was quickly brought back from my thoughts about vampire names when the female voice kept talking: "Is Pamela a maker already?"

"_Pamela."_ Pam _hated_ to be called that. Didn't that Natércia-person know that? Well, she and Pam weren't exactly friends, so maybe she _did _know that, but kept calling her Pamela exactly because Pam hated it.

"No. Not yet. And she never talked about it. Álvaro's what? Three? Four?" That was Eric's voice, answering the question and adding his own question.

"He is almost 320 years old, I guess. Or something close. But about him having a child of his own… Well, I just don't know. I think he's too young yet," the female voice answered Eric.

"It's his decision Nat," Eric said.

"The hell it is. He is _my_ child. I _own_ him." She said the "my" and the "own" words in a way that reminded me of Ocella and his voice tone when he talked to Eric on that first and only night when I had met him (and he had talked to me too). And because that _still-unseen_ lady's voice reminded me of Ocella, she was already scaring the shit out of me. She actually gave me the creeps.

But Eric, apparently, liked her answer, because he laughed at her remark. And that was when they both entered our living room and I first saw Natércia. I immediately got up but Liz stayed sitting and watching one of her favorites TV shows "Toys' City". Her eyes were glued to the screen.

"So Nat," Eric started saying; they were next to me by then, "this is Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie, this is Natércia Amaral, my long time friend."

I noticed that she was Natércia Amaral, his _long time friend _but I was just Sookie Stackhouse. There was no "my girlfriend", "my lover" or even "my wife" after my name. And with Eric's obsession that our marriage was valid, I was left wondering why I was just Sookie Stackhouse, and not Sookie Stackhouse, his… _something_. I would have to file that away for later, because the "long time friend" was right there, and so I nodded to the gorgeous dark haired, small woman in front of me. She was wearing a beautifully tailored light-grey skirt, with a light-blue shirt and a grey and blue scarf. And she had a jacket of the same fabric that her skirt on her arm, as well as a Channel purse (even I recognized the two interlocked C's of the Channel's logo). She was also wearing what looked like very expensive high-heels shoes, and her hair and makeup were flawless. She looked 24 or 25 years old, or maybe even less (the suit might make her look older). And I immediately felt badly dressed and ugly. And aged.

"Sookie," the stunning vampire said, "how nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Natércia,"

"Yes…" she said. But I had the feeling that she had preferred to say "whatever" like a rebellious teenager, instead of acknowledging me. And then she added with a patronizing tone, "Eric has been telling me how sweet and tasteful your blood is."

Okay, here's a doubt: was she _complimenting_ me about it? Or was she saying that I was just a blood bag and that Eric's only interest in me depended on _how_ _my blood_ tasted?

But to me, it really didn't matter so much the reason behind her sentence. What I was thinking then was that he had told a strange vampire about my blood's taste. Or rather, Eric had _freaking_ told a _fucking_ vampire about _my blood_.

"Well, Eric's too kind to me" I managed to respond after I mustered all the calm I could from inside me, while giving Eric a deadly glance. Why the hell would he be telling her about my blood? He had told me that yesterday they hadn't had time to talk, because she had been late, and that night, they had only been together for less than an hour. So, I wondered how the hell my blood's taste had come into their conversation. And even if they had, somehow, ended up talking about it, then why the hell did he tell her that I was tasty? I felt my deadly glance at him turn even deadlier. No sex for you tonight mister. Damn, probably not this whole week. Telling another vampire that I was… appetizing! Was he crazy?

"And Nat this is my lovely Elizabeth," Eric finally said pointing to Liz, who got up (only Eric and Nike could separate her eyes from Toys' City) and hugged Eric's waist, as she always did, "Liz, this lady here is my friend Nat."

"Hi," Liz said looking at Natércia, while still hugging Eric's waist.

Natércia looked at my daughter like she was a scientific project because she was obviously curious about the child that was hugging the tall Viking vampire. And Natércia's face looking at Liz? It was precious. I immediately hated her a little bit less. She was getting one hell of an education about vampire relationships with humans that night. Eric, his long-time badass friend, looked extremely happy just because a little human girl was hugging him. Her awe at the situation was stamped on her face. And, I also forgave Eric a little bit too for his "Sookie's blood is delicious" commentary.

"Hello," the vampire finally managed to answer to Liz.

Then, Eric told us to sit and so we did it. And Liz sat as well. And she sat where she almost always did: on his lap. And she just kept watching TV and touching Eric's hair. Lizzie had always loved how straight and long Eric's hair was. And brushing his hair with her hands was part of their every night routine (before her "I want to be a veterinarian" phase, she had wanted to be a hairdresser when she grew up, and she had started brushing Eric's hair then; and for some reason, they just kept doing it). And the fact that Eric was acting just like any other night, especially towards Liz, was calming me a little bit.

Natércia, however, kept watching them curiously. And, of course, she had to keep trying to upset me.

"So tell me human, how long have you known Eric?"

"Her name is Sookie, Nat," Eric said immediately.

"Yes, Sookie. I've known him for more than 800 years. What about you?"

It was obvious she wanted to claim him for herself, because she had met him first. _Puh-lease_… was she calling "dibs" on Eric or something? Was she still in junior high?

"For 12 years," I answered.

"How cute. And it took you 10 years to be together?"

I wouldn't use the word "cute" to describe our relationship and the time it had taken us to be together as a couple. Yeah, strange word… And she knew that we'd been together for two years already... Why would Eric be telling her that?

I _obviously_ would not get into details about how we had blood bonded just a little over a year after we met, nor how I had fell in love with an amnesiac Eric. So I only answered her, "Yes, kind of."

"How cute," she repeated. Again with the "cute"?

She then asked me about my job at the bars and how I filled my days without Eric. Did she think that my whole life should be exclusively around Eric? I told her how I used to fill my days and then I asked if they'd want some blood. Natércia didn't answer me, but after Eric's positive reply, I went to the kitchen, I warmed two bottles of True Blood and I went back to the living-room and that awful conversation. I had just sat again, when I discovered that Natércia did indeed think that I should only worry about Eric and nothing more when she said that it was odd that I wasn't keeping vampire hours just like Eric. Hah! Eric didn't keep human hours, why would I have to live completely according to _his_ schedule? I tried to muster all the "_hostessness" _inside me that I could and I also tried to just focus on the part that she was a guest at my house and so she should be treated with respect (even though she didn't deserve it). And so, I answered, "I am a day person. I love the sun. Besides, my daughter needs me during the day, obviously."

Natércia was going to say something else but before she had the chance, I excused myself saying it was Lizzie's bed time. I told my daughter that we should go upstairs and after she said goodnight to Natércia and gave Eric a kiss, the two of us went upstairs. _Just_ the two of us. And that sure worried me becauseEric was normally there for the story and goodnight kiss. But that night, he stayed downstairs entertaining his guest.

When I got there, almost an hour later, I was appalled by what I saw.

Natércia had moved from the place she had sat before. She was at _my_ previous place on the couch, right there next to Eric. And his hand was on her knee. His hand. On. Her knee. On _the skin_ of her knee because her skirt had gone up a little when she had sat, and so he had his freaking hand on her fucking knee. And they were talking in some God forsaken language that was completely foreign to me. And they were laughing and just having a good time together.

Shit!

They looked great together. And great as in the gorgeous couple of a TV ad for a luxurious European car or an extremely expensive perfume, or even Dubai Airlines or something like that. They looked "Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the Oscar Night" great. I felt awkward and unattractive all over again.

But then, in just a second, Eric heard me or saw me or smelled me or whatever he did to know that I was there, and he turned his head towards me and told me to sit with them again in English. Natércia told him another sentence in that strange language and he just answered her "yes," again in English. I wondered what it was that he was agreeing with.

"So, she's sleeping?" Eric then asked me while I sat at Natércia's previous place on the smaller couch. _Not _by Eric's side.

"Yeah," I managed to mumble.

"Good. Nat and I were talking about Nat's maker just now,"

"Oh…" I answered. And he kept looking at me as if he wanted me to add something more to the conversation. But what the hell was I supposed to say to him? I knew what I _wanted _to say to him, but I was also sure that I shouldn't tell him what I really wished to say. _"I don't freaking care about Natércia's maker, Eric. But I do care about why the hell she moved so close to you in my freaking house while I was upstairs with a 7 year old, who was just asking about you and why her dad wasn't there to read to her."_ Yeah, that was _exactly_ what I wanted to say. But I didn't. And so, I left it at "oh…"And apparently, even though he looked like he wanted a few more words from me; it was answer enough, because Eric kept talking.

"Yes. He has been living in the Brazilian rainforest with a native. The guy was an eremite and a religious recluse. And they lived together, just the two of them, for the last 50 years. And Nat's maker didn't want anyone there; just him and the guy. He drank his blood and helped the man hunting and recollecting plants from there. And hardly anyone saw any of them for a little more than half a century. Then, suddenly, two months ago, he showed up at Nat's, in Canada, saying that this eremite, his only company for 50 years had died of old age. Isn't it hard to believe, Sookie?" Eric said to me.

I then heard more laughs from both of them (they still looked great together). Okay, it actually sounded unbelievable to me. And interesting. But I sure didn't understand why they were laughing about it. I was about to ask if he knew what the main learning aspect the vampire had gotten from that experience, with the religious recluse when I was interrupted by Natércia. And I actually didn't manage to say anything at all because _she_ replied immediately to the question that Eric had asked _me_.

"Yes, it's so far-fetched…" she answered and then she continued talking, "Like I was telling you Eric, of course I knew where he was. I even went there to visit him in the eighties, but he just screamed at me to go away and never come back there. So I left. Imagine my surprise when a couple of months ago, he, out of the blue, shows up in Vancouver, dressed in an modern way, not at all impressed with the new technologies of the world, when I knew that he had been living in a cavern for more than half a century. Just him and this supposedly holy man. They spend decades contemplating God's work and meditating. Decades meditating. Meditating," she said and they both laughed again.

And you know something? I had been thinking before that Natércia sounded just my opposite. And that had made me wonder how Eric could be around her, let alone put up with her for 800 years. But now, I couldn't stop myself for thinking that he did look so at ease with that woman… Maybe the question wasn't how could he be next to her, because she was so different from me. Maybe it was: how could he like me, if he was so comfortable and cozy around Natércia? They were both laughing with such a stress-free attitude…

Shit! _And now,_ they looked like an expensive ad to an exclusive and costly private club or a top-finance company from New York or London, with their good-looks and care-less laughs. Damn it!

And just one more thing: why the hell was that story funny? Why were they laughing about it?

"Yes," I finally said for lack of another word and then offered them another True Blood bottle. Eric thanked me and said that he was full already. But Natércia just told me that only one bottle of "that synthetic crap" was enough. I looked better at her bottle and noticed that it was still pretty much full.

We then kept talking about Eric's bars and his work as Sheriff, but I could tell that during these past two years, since the last time they had been personally together, Eric had still kept in touch, at least by phone or e-mail, with Natércia. She knew too much about Eric's businesses and his life. But she didn't know about me... If she was his friend, as he had said so many times in the last two nights, why hadn't he told her about me? If you started dating someone, wouldn't you tell your friends about it? And Eric and I were so much more than just dating. We were living together, he was always saying that we were married, and we were raising a child together. Liz called him dad, for crying out loud.

Okay, I understood when Eric wanted to keep the deepness of his feelings for us unknown to most vampires. Yes, I got it – it would make him appear human, thus "attackable". But that was a different situation. Eric himself had introduced both me and Liz to that Natércia person, his "long time friend". But the thing was: she was also his former flame, his "several times lover". And he hadn't told his… well, his _ex-girlfriend_ actually, that he was… well, _dating_ a new person. And in my mind, if you don't tell you ex that you're seeing someone new, it only means that you still want to be with your ex. So… did Eric?

And you know something else that bothered me? Okay, Eric had taken his hand from her knee when I entered the room. But now it was her arm that was touching the back of his neck below his hair while her hand was at his shoulder. And by shoulder, I meant, the shoulder of the _opposite side_ that she was sitting! She was almost hugging him! Hugging him! But even worse: he looked absolutely comfortable with it. Did he think that I would be okay with it, or hadn't he noticed it at all?

And so, I stayed there, doing small talk while my heart and my mind were working over-time trying to figure out what the hell was going on with Eric. And almost two hours after I had come downstairs again without Liz, they left because Eric was going to show Natércia the recent renovations of Fangtasia (that she was "dying to see", as she said) and then work there for a while.

We all got up, and I walked with them to our door, where Natércia thanked me for my hospitality and said that it had been amusing to meet me (_"amusing"_? I was… _"amusing"_? Was I a clown, who provided pleasure or entertainment?).

Natércia then walked towards Eric's car, which was parked in front of our house. And damn it! Since Eric had bought the car, on the previous year, I had always said how I didn't like it because it was a just a small (with not enough trunk space), sports, fancy European car, way too _chic_ and stylish for me. And it was! But Natércia, on the other hand, looked like she had been made to be in that Porsche… Damn it, damn it, damn it.

The car ramblings in my head then stopped, when Eric, who had stayed by the door with me, while Natércia walked to the car, started to move towards me. And he was about to kiss me, when I moved my face, and looked to the wall at my left on purpose, hence making him kiss my cheek instead of my lips.

"Is there a problem?" he asked. Was there a problem? Was _there_ a _problem_? Was he really asking me if there was a problem? Oh my God! Was he kidding me or was he _that_ simpleton? But a look at his face, at those eyes, told me that Eric was really oblivious of his previous behavior. And by "his previous behavior", I meant the fact that he had told her about my blood's taste, the not giving Liz her goodnight kiss upstairs, the hand on another woman's knee….

"I'm just tired. I should go to sleep," I didn't want a scene then and there. Yes, there was a problem. There was _obviously_ a problem. A dark-haired-and-dressed-in-a-light-grey-suit problem. But now was not the time. The _"problem"_ was looking at us from the car. I quickly kissed his lips and then I said "Goodnight Eric."

"Goodbye Sookie," he answered me and then he left while I stood there, by our door. I saw the car leaving our house and I was just closing the front door when I heard it speeding, just a few seconds later. Eric probably loved to drive with Natércia. With me or Liz in the car, he knew he had to drive at the speed limits. But with Natércia? Not so much.

I closed the door and went upstairs. I was feeling awful and I even left their True Blood bottles on the table on the living room. I'd take care of it the next day because I just didn't care at that point. Yes, feeling awful was an accurate description. But as soon as I entered my bedroom and I saw a couple of shirts on the bed (that Eric had obviously tried on before going downstairs earlier that night), I realized something even more awful.

"_Goodbye Sookie."_ He had said "goodbye"; not "goodnight". And he had said "Sookie"; not "lover". Actually, now that I thought about it, I hadn't heard a single "lover" in Natércia's presence.

Pam had told me that she was with Eric for thirty years (thirty years!) but then Natércia showed up and Eric ended his (30-years long) relationship with her just like that. Because of Natércia. I was glad that he had let Liz sit on his lap and play with his hair just like any other night. But then there hadn't been any goodnight kiss upstairs, in Lizzie's bedroom.

"_Goodbye Sookie."_ I couldn't stop wondering: what if Natércia's recent appearance ended our relationship? What if Eric didn't want me anymore?

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**Okay, I'll just ran away and hide now. And yes, yes, Eric could have behaved better in this chapter. But despite that, I really hope that you still enjoyed my writing! Next chapter: a Natércia's POV. Oh, and "Álvaro" is my grandfather's name. Don't forget to review if you can. Célia**

**"Never Say Goodbye" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, and one of my favorites. It was released as the fourth single off the band's album, Slippery When Wet, in August 1987. "Never Say Goodbye" is a very beautiful ballad, featuring drawn out vocals and a slow tempo, in contrast to the other tracks on "Slippery When Wet", which are of a much more upbeat, hard rock pace. The song describes the relationship between two young lovers, and their desire to stay together. The chorus goes this way: **_**"Never say goodbye, never say goodbye / You and me and my old friends, hoping it would never end / Never say goodbye, never say goodbye / Holdin' on, we got to try, holdin' on to never say goodbye."**_


	39. Blaze of Glory

**A Natércia's POV…! I hope you'll enjoy reading it, even though you might not like the characters' behaviors. And believe me, it was very hard to write an original character's POV – so, please, let me know your thoughts about it, by reviewing. And thank you for reading. Take care. Célia**

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**Natércia "Blaze Of Glory"**

Zephyrus, meaning West Wind in Old Greek, had come back from Brazil with no such thing as a Zen-like personality, even thought he had been meditating for half a fucking century. So, after almost a month entertaining my _"lovely"_ maker in Vancouver (and teaching him the perks of the 21th century), I felt the need to just pack a suitcase and fucking leave my own house. Because the West Wind blows from West to East, I decided I would go the _opposite_ direction and so I caught a plane to the LaGuardia airport because, in Queens, it was the closest to Manhattan. As soon as I landed, I took a cab for the 8-miles drive to Midtown. I hadn't been there for almost a year, but I felt immediately at home when I entered my one-bedroom apartment.

I spent the next couple of weeks meeting old friends and having a good time. I loved to be among vampires, and there were a lot of us in New York City. The North of the United States had always been known for its belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. They had always thought that constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, free trade, and the freedom of religion were important ideas. And that just meant that the stupid human officials of the Northern States had approved many more laws regarding our Rights and Freedoms than the Southern States, thus, having a bigger vampire population. And the State of New York or, more especially, Manhattan, had the bigger vampire population per capita of the whole country.

Yes, Manhattan was great. If nothing else, there were people on the street and things to do all night long. And because I was over a thousand years old, I was always regarded as an important and valued individual wherever I went among vampires. And that was how I found myself getting ready to leave my place to go to the private party of the recent appointed King of New York, who I had met the previous week. He was over seven centuries of age and because he had been born in a poor part of the twelfth-century-China, he was a small and skinny guy. But he exuded confidence and he sounded capable. There was just a thing about him though… He wanted to be called Jiungguo. And that was just, well… fucking stupid, really. I had spent four of five decades in both Beijing and Xinjiang (during the early years of the Qing Dynasty, around 1670 more or less) and so I knew that Jiungguo was a Chinese name that meant "administering the state," from _chêng_ that was "government," and _kuo _that translated into "a country, state or kingdom". And so, that guy, a newly nominated King was calling himself exactly it. I mean… Seriously? Could he be _more_ a cliché?

But anyway, he was still a King. And it would be a good party. Why the hell a Chinese guy would throw a Christmas party was beyond me, but yes, I was sure that I would have fun that night. But it was still a little past eleven, and the party wouldn't start for another hour, so I was alone, on a Christmas night, in my apartment in New York.

And because Christmas had always meant family and friends, I had a little _out-of-character_ moment for me, and I used that hour before I had to leave, to call my family and my friends. Álvaro and Francisco, my children, had both been told to attend to Zephyrus' needs in Vancouver (and believe me, he truly needed someone with him at all times – he had stayed away from the real world for way too long, and he still needed help with the present-day world), and so, when I called home, I was able to speak on the phone with the three of them with only one phone-call. I then called Adelaide in Ottawa, who was excited about a new decree that would force all government departments and public offices to be open for at least two hours after sun-set. I also called Annushka and Richard in California, the only vampire couple that I knew that had been together for almost a hundred years now, _nonstop_. And I also called Aodhan, or rather Aidan, as he wanted to be called now. Aidan had been my previous year's lover, but we had only last for a few months, as all my other vampire-vampire relationships. Except one. Or rather, except _the _one. And finally, I called Eric in Louisiana.

Eric Northman was "_the _one"_. _He was what you could call my twin flame or even my twin _soul_ (that is, if we, vampires, had one, which I didn't think so). He was the only person with whom I had a feeling of deep and natural affinity and compatibility. And also intimacy. And, of course, sexuality. But it was not that we were exactly the same. We weren't. Actually, we were extremely different in many things pertaining our opinions and personalities. But, deep down, we knew we belonged to each other, even though we had never managed to stay together for long, like Annushka and Richard. Eric and I, we… We were _real companions_.

Now, here's a little story. Thomas Calverton had been an English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry, who had died at the age of twenty-three of arsenic poisoning, either from a suicide attempt or self-medication for a venereal disease. He had lived in the sixteenth century and he had been an awful writer. But Thomas had had something else that had distinguished him from the other humans: he had known all about vampires, even though he was a human, because besides being a bad poet, he had also been a dabbler in the occult. And he had read the one or two few books about us. And he had believed it. And for some reason that I can't really recollect right now, the London vampire community of the time, just left Thomas unglamoured, even thought he knew about us. Anyway, the important thing about Thomas Calverton was that, even though he had been a terrible writer, once in a blue moon, he had said deep sentences. And there was this time, when he said to Eric and I a couple of tacky sentences. But they had stuck. And since then, Eric had repeated over and over again whenever we would separate once more, that together we just "burnt with the splendor of the brightest fire", and I would always answer him that yes, we "shone too bright to last for long".

But much more significant than our attempts at staying together, was our friendship and the fact that we had been there for each other for over 800 years. He was, without a doubt, my companion in life, my trusted supporter and ally. Eric Northman was my best friend. Eric Northman was my family. And so, of course, I called him too.

I let it ring, but when he didn't pick up the phone, I chose to not leave a message. I knew he'd call me as soon as he saw my missing call. I wondered what he was doing in that fucking shit hole that he called home. Why was Eric, such an extraordinary vampire, content in being just a Sheriff in such an Area and State would never be clear to me. But hey, except for me, Eric did have strange tastes – look at Pamela, for instance. She was such a needy, spoiled, flawed and insolent child. Eric called her _spirited;_ but I had always thought she was just badly behaved and disrespectful.

Anyway, I soon left for the party and, like I had predicted, I had a blast there. Everyone was impeccably dressed and even though there were a few humans there, it was mostly vampires (and not your 80 or 90 years-old variety of vampires either, but rather older than five centuries), and I had lots of fun. The music and the donors were great and the conversations interesting. All in all, it was a great Christmas night.

And on the next night, as expected, Eric called me. The previous night, when I had called him, I had merely intended to wish him a happy Christmas, and that was that. But when he called me back, I realized that he sounded really strange on the phone. And I thought that he sounded even stranger when he insisted that _he_ would come to Manhattan to meet me, especially because I hadn't talked about us meeting. And you know what? It really appeared that he just wanted _me_ away from _Shreveport_. Was that the reason why he would offer to go to Manhattan? I hadn't even suggested that I wanted to see him. I had only wanted to wish him Happy Holidays. But hell, if he didn't want me in Louisiana, then that was where I would be. And so, obviously, I told him that I was going there soon.

But I had made many appointments and I had already agreed to several meetings in the last couple of weeks in New York. And so, it still took me a month or so, to be able to leave Manhattan and go to those boondocks that was Shreveport. As soon as I landed, I rented a car, and I was pleasantly surprised when a dashingly handsome guy gave me the keys and went out with me to show me the car while helping me with my luggage. He was tall and he had an athletic body, with green eyes and dark hair, as well as good teeth and a good-looking face. And he had a sweet smell about him. So, of course, I tasted him. And he was actually AB-negative, and extremely tasty. And that was why I did taste him in _more ways than one_. Yes, as soon as I sampled his blood, I decided that I wanted him. And so I had him. And turns out that the guy, Cameron, was actually a healthy 30-year old with a few sexual tricks under his sleeve.

Anyway, the flavorsome Cameron made me late for my meeting with my friend and I was received by a bizarre Eric who almost didn't kiss me. Besides, he took me to a hotel and not to his house. And why? Because he had a woman there! Eric Northman had a woman in his house. And they had, and I quote, "been together for a while" and she was "important to him".

_Oooookay_. You know what? Actually, no. _Not_ okay. What I meant was: huh? What the fuck?

But then, Eric's next words would make it all even weirder, because he said that he had the woman's fucking kid living there too. A kid? A _human_ kid? A… kid-kid? Huh?

Why?

Kids were loud, stupid, annoying, ugly, and they smelled like dog shit. They were always running around giggling and spilling everything everywhere. They wasted their time playing shitty games. Their blood was weaker than normal humans. Kids weren't even real people. That was why kids paid less to go to movies and such. They paid less because they were worth less. No, not worth less. Just worthless, with their feeble and weak blood.

And Eric was telling me that he had a kid-kid living at his house? With him?

I went to my hotel room after we decided that he'd come and pick me the next night at 8 pm. And let me tell you, I had thought that the whole "having a human and her kid in his house" thing was over the top. But, turns out, there was more.

Because on the next night, when I told Eric about an incredibly tasteful Brazilian girl that was on the hotel's menu, he answered me that he only drank from that woman that he had in his house. I insisted for him to taste the girl, but he kept saying that he wouldn't. And he even told me that for the last two years, Eric had only drunk from others rather than her, three times. _Three_ times. In _two years_. And only because he had been in Arkansas at the time. When I asked him why, he just said that she was enough for him, and that, in fact, he didn't _want_ to drink anyone else. He actually said that he was only thirsty for his human. He didn't desire anyone else. I insisted about the Brazilian girl's good taste, obviously. And he only answered that no matter who the person was, every single blood donor now smelled bland and insipid to him, if compared to his human's blood.

And again, I could only think _"huh?"_ because, let's face it, no blood is _that lovable_ that you don't want to taste any other. But apparently, his human's blood was. I couldn't wait to meet the creature.

As soon as we arrived at Eric's, he introduced me to the woman, a something Stackhouse. She had a good body, I admit, but so did many other women everywhere. She had on a light red polyester t-shirt that was low cut enough to show her ample cleavage and some brand less jeans. Her blonde hair was teased up and fried-looking, and her skin was tanned. I wondered how long it would take for her skin to start showing that leathery quality that comes from too much sun exposure. I would _never_ understand that new trend about tanned skin. Back when I was alive, being tanned just meant that you were poor and you had to work in the fields yourself, because you didn't have servants. No proper lady would ever want to have such a dark skin. But, the human did smell wonderfully, I had to grant her that. And, all things considered, I could see why Eric would be attracted to her. Though I still didn't understand why he kept her for two fucking years, and at his own house, of all the places.

And then he showed me the kid. And she looked like a mini-Stackhouse. Except… she smelled something between her mother and a… were. _A were. _What? A were? Eric was keeping a fucking half-breed were-kid at his place? Oh hell. There were so many wrong things within that sentence: "half-breed", "were-kid", "his place". And the kid just held onto him and he held onto the kid like they were on… I don't know… a fucking Rice Crispies's TV ad or something.

What. The fuck. Was going. On.

Seriously: what _the fuck_ was going on in Eric's fucking mind?

We then sat (the half-were kid was still on Eric's lap) and we talked for a while. The woman, _Sookie_, as Eric bluntly repeated to me (_"Her name is Sookie, Nat"_), sounded nice and polite, but I kept thinking how fucked up that whole situation was. And even Eric sounded worried and stressed out.

And later, when she went upstairs to do something with the half-were kid that I didn't really pay attention to what it was, I used the opportunity to move closer to Eric and try to undo all his almost nervous tension and stress. And what better than Zephyrus' stories and his recent adaptation to the 21st century? Eric had always thought that Zephyrus was a humorous guy, and they had always been affable with each other, so I was sure that he'd think that Zephyrus' tales would be amusing.

Now: getting along with the modern ways was something that all vampires had to do because we lived through out so many fucking ages, that we had to adapt. Or else we wouldn't survive. Yes, adapting was something we _really _needed to be able to do. But that was not always easy, and all of us, the old-timers, had many stories of difficult times with that necessary adjustment. And some were just fucking hilarious.

You want an example? The first time Eric saw one of those early twentieth century heavier-than-air man-carrying aircrafts, I mean, those cloth-made gliders, he was… well, hit by one when he was flying somewhere in Botswana. We were living in South Africa back then, but Eric had travelled to Mozambique, through the Bechuanaland Protectorate in Botswana, for some reason that I don't remember anymore. And he was _really_ hit by one of those early air-crafts. I would say that he had been run over, but because it happened on the sky… well, maybe he had been _flown over_… But the best part of it? It was his face. Yes. His face when he told me that the humans had built a flying machine? Well, it was precious! He couldn't even believe it. Even worse, back then, I didn't believe him either.

Yes, all old-timers, had many fucking hilarious stories of difficult times about that necessary adjustment through time.

At any rate, I sat beside Eric, and I told him about Zephyrus. And it was almost a blaze of glory for me, when I felt Eric _immediately_ loosening up and starting to laugh with me when I told him about my maker's first contact with synthetic blood, and also with humans in public. We had been out in the open for almost twenty years already, but he hadn't known that. And when he saw humans and vampires together in a bar in Vancouver he just… freaked out. He completely freaked out. And I was just telling Eric all about it when that Sookie-person came back downstairs again, minus the kid.

Not that I was missing her, but I was curious… Where the fuck was the kid?

But when Eric asked her the same thing... Well, not exactly the _same thing_, he asked her if the were-kid was sleeping, then I remembered that human children do sleep for many hours. Like I said before: worthless. And so, it would be just the three of us.

And there we stayed, for a couple more hours, just talking and drinking that dreadful True Blood that was everywhere in those days. But soon it was time for Eric to show me Fangtasia and its changes. He had slightly redone the place since I had last been in Shreveport. And so, he drove us there.

The place was great and I liked the new tables and chairs much more than the previous ones. Unfortunately, it was full of blood-bags, but I knew that they were spending their hard-earned money there, so it didn't bother me too much. As soon as the bar officially closed, I enjoyed a good talk with Dahlia, Madeline, Maxwell Lee and Josiah. And thankfully, and even though I was expecting her, Eric's boring child Pamela didn't show up there. And that was just great. After having to meet and talk with Eric's human, I would hate to have to meet and talk with Eric's child. And again, I found myself thinking about Eric's taste in women. Hell, besides me, there was no woman that was worth a damn in his life.

Eric's job in his office didn't take him too long, and soon, he joined us. There was some frozen human blood there, and we all had a nice night drinking it and just talking about whatever we wanted. And Eric's stress-free appearance continued. You see? He was only tensed with that… _human_ of his. He was much more himself among vampires. I'd have to make him see it. Damn, I was his family. I owed to him to take care of him. And in that moment, taking care of him, meant separating him from that low-life blond woman who was sucking the life out of Eric alongside with her half-were kid.

"So, he's been trying but he can't?" I asked at some point during the night.

We were talking about the younger child of Josiah's maker. He was a little over 200 years old, and he was called Abraham. And Abraham had lived in Poland for a few decades, but he had recently moved back to Israel, where he had been born. But he was facing some problems there.

"He has been to their DMV dozens of times, and he has written letters to everyone, including the Prime-Minister, with several documents attached that prove his claims that he was born when he was, but he still isn't allowed," Josiah answered me.

The thing was: even though Poland was still not as developed as other Western Europe countries, it did belong to the EU. And so, the country had adopted several laws approved by the European Council, regarding Vampire Rights. And that was why Abraham was used to having several rights as a Vampire Citizen. Yes, the truth was that, even though the USA had been the first country to legally accept us; now, the European Union, including Poland, had far more laws allowing certain privileges and civil liberties to its dead citizens, than America. But Israel, on the other hand, wasn't yet that forward-thinking regarding us. And Abraham was facing a few difficulties in his adaptation to his birth-country in the new Post-Great Revelation world. And what difficulties? Getting a driver's license, for instance. And why? Because, as Josiah was telling us, their maker had turned Abraham when he was still at a young age.

"I've never met him. How old does he really look like?" Eric asked.

"I don't know. Twelve, maybe? A _small_ twelve-year old."

"And can he at least reach the pedals?" Dahlia asked sarcastically and we all laughed out loud. Including Eric. Yes, he truly loved to _be_ a vampire, and be _among_ vampires. That thing with the human and the half-were kid was just a silly phase. And I would make sure that Eric would get over it.

"And can't he get a fake one?" Maxwell Lee asked when our laugh outburst calmed down.

"He already has. But it doesn't fucking solve his problem, does it? Fake driver's license or not, he still looks like he's twelve and so the police keeps signaling to him, making him stop the car and show his documents. And even though his fake papers are sound, he doesn't even look like a fucking teenager," Josiah drank from his True Blood bottle (he had previously said that he actually liked the fowl taste of it), and then he added, "He fucking looks even _younger_ than a teenager."

And we all laughed again, right before we started talking about how great the 1910's had been (even with World War I, or _the Great War_, as we called it then), compared to how the 2010's were turning out to be. We could only hope that the 2020's would be as great as the 1920's had been.

For old timers like us, the new Post-Great Revelation world was still something hard to accept. We now had to obey tons of fucking laws, whereas before we could do what we bloody wanted. Yes, we had new rights, and it sure felt great to be able to be myself in public. But I wasn't really myself, because now I had to pay attention to _where_ I ate, and _who_ I ate, and _how _I ate. And God forgive if we were caught on film drinking in public. And every fucking cell-phone now had a camera, so we had to be alert at _all times_! And glamouring was completely prohibited now. We all still did it, obviously. I mean… it was part of who we were. But again, just like with the biting and drinking, we just bloody couldn't be caught on film doing it.

And, of course, in a more personal aspect, I had been fucking tortured for five fucking years in Russia by the fucking Orthodox Patriarchate Church of God. And that only happened because we had assumed ourselves to the fucking blood bags. So, yeah, you can say that I hadn't truly gasped the whole "showing our true nature will be good for us" thing.

Humans were food. They were sustenance. They were the same as groceries, for fuck's sake. And we didn't owe them a fucking thing, let alone an explanation about ourselves. The Great Revelation had only made them aware of us, nothing more. And for some crazy reason, a few of them actually _enjoyed_ to be with us. Some of them even _wanted_ to be close to us, to be in relationships with us. But that was not proper. That was not _fucking _proper. It was not correct. Actually, it was completely wrong. And it was basically _against our nature_. We shouldn't be that close to those blood bags. They served only one purpose: to feed us. And whenever they started to be anything else other than nourishment, the only thing that came out of that were vampires who were then confused about their feelings. Just like Eric was.

Okay, yes, the blood bags were also good for fucking (but _without_ feelings attached, of course) because having sex with another vampire, unless it was just a one-night stand, was just too damn complicated – the whole "who has power over whom" thing was just a pain in the ass. And that was why my long relationship with Eric was so different and rare among vampires. The only exception to that was the Maker/Child relationships (just like Annushka and Richard), because then the Child could never have control over the Maker, and so, in such a relationship, it would be obviously clear who controlled whom. And the truth was that, without a blood connection, there wouldn't be any true and long relationship between vampires. Okay, vampires _could_ have polite relationships or even light friendships; but those never lasted for long.

Yes, believe me: if two or more vampires showed themselves as good friends, you could bet that it was because all of them would have ulterior motives, such as their own safety, or perhaps the possibility of earning more money or power. But one thing was for sure: it definitely was _not_ because they were true friends. If there was _no_ blood link, there was _no_ real friendship among vampires. And that was why vampires needed to fuck humans. Because humans would never have control over the vampire. Hence the importance of _not_ having feelings for them!

So why did Eric and I remain so close for so many centuries if there wasn't a blood relationship? Well, because, even though Eric knew nothing about it, we did have a blood connection between us. Eric had once drunk from me, when I was barely three decades old and he was still a human.

The thing was: more than 1000 years ago, the Ancient Pythoness lived in Jämtland, a historical province in the center of what is now Sweden. And back then, her importance to us vampires was even more than today because, just as humans, we weren't as knowledgeable then as we were now. And that gave her oracle capacities even more importance. And that was why many of us travelled though the North of Europe to go and see her. Including Zephyrus and I.

And that was the first time I saw Eric. Because his village was somewhat close to the main road to Jämtland, both me and my maker stopped by to have dinner there that one night. I still remember that Zephyrus chose to drink a young girl of no more than 12 or 13 years old, though at the time, she'd be practically an adult at that age. And I chose Eric. And I drank from him. But because I was still kind of young, I over-drank and I almost killed him. And then, I panicked. And why did I panic for almost killing a simple human? Because I was afraid I would be castigated for it.

Two or three nights before that night, I had killed a woman. And Zephyrus had helped me get rid of her body. And, unfortunately for me (and for my donors, I guess) that had not been the first time that it had happened. But that woman had been pregnant and Zephyrus had been very angry with me because of my mistake. And he had promised a huge punishment if that was to happen again because, at my third decade of being a vampire, I should already have a better control over my impulses. And so, when I felt Eric's heart slowing too much, and then almost stopping, I got terrified that I had killed him and that my Maker would chastise me. And Zephyrus' disciplinary methods had always been dreadful. So, in my panic to prevent his punishment, I gave Eric my blood and I quickly glamoured him into forgetting everything and just going back to his home. And luckily, Zephyrus had been too engrossed into his girl to notice what had happened.

Imagine my awe when two centuries later, I accidentally meet my former dinner. And at first I hadn't recognize him, but suddenly I smelled something of me in him, and I managed to pin down the reason why he would smell of me. And even though I'd never control Eric like Ocella had, not even close, I had at the time of that meeting, and I still did now, a little influence over Eric. And _that _had been the reason why I hadn't killed him when we fought that first time I met Eric after he had become a Vampire. And _that _had also been the reason why we had managed to stay friends for so long. Because my blood called to him. Yes, granted, the voice of my blood in him was very low, and almost imperceptible. But it was there. And I was glad for it. And I was also glad that I hadn't ever told about it to Eric.

Anyway, we kept talking for a while at Fangtasia; and a couple of hours before sunrise, we all left the bar and Eric drove me back to the hotel. And then, for some unfathomable reason, he didn't want to come up to my bedroom with me. It was as if he was afraid to be with me upstairs. But ultimately he _did_ go to my bedroom, obviously. Especially after I told him about the documents Adelaide had given me in Ottawa the month before, so I would give it to Eric. They had something to do with Ocella's inheritance and Eric should have them and sign it or some shit like that. I really didn't care. I just wanted Eric naked on my fucking bed. "_Fucking_ bed", indeed!

And so, as soon as we got inside, instead of picking the papers that I was supposed to deliver to Eric, I just jumped at him and I kissed him hard. And strangely, he didn't react at first. And it made me remember how he hadn't kissed me right on the previous night. And now, he was doing the same.

But I insisted, and _finally_, he kissed me back. And if anyone knows how to kiss, it's Eric. And that was just another blaze-of-glory-moment for me. Why? Because Eric's tongue and lips simply tasted _divine_. And kissing him felt so fucking natural that you'd believe that we had been born kissing and had spent all our lives just doing it. It was _that_ instinctual. And then, I had this urge to just hold onto him… And Eric was so tall that the only way for me to grab him was for my arms to go under his armpits and then up his back. And that was what I did. I hold onto him with all my strength that I even scratched his upper back and shoulders with my nails. Even through his shirt. And at the same time, I could feel Eric's grip in my hair and waist increase with the raising of his own strength. And I felt… great. I felt marvelously, heavenly, other-worldly great. I just loved to both possess and be possessed by Eric Northman. He was such a sexual animal. And the two of us together? We were just fucking awesome.

And I knew that Eric thought the same, because in less than one minute after the beginning of our kiss, Eric picked me up and he then dropped me on the bed, with his body falling right next to mine. And we kept kissing. And I could almost fell the pull of my blood in him. Besides, we had swapped blood so many times during our 800 years together, that whenever we met, we would be completely drawn to each other.

We were about to undress, again less than one minute after we had moved to the bed, when I pierced both my tongue and his lips with my fangs. I always did it. It was _my thing_. We were vampires, and blood always turned us on, obviously, so I had done it hundreds and hundreds of nights before. Besides, the exchange of blood also increased the connection between us. So yes, it really was _my thing. _And that was why I did it again. But then, something stranger than all those other strange things that had been happening since I had landed in that fucking town happened. Yes, at that moment, on that bed, what happened next was the most fucking strange thing _ever_. Even stranger than Eric playing fucking house with a human and a were-kid. Yes, what happened then was even stranger than that. And what happened? Well, it happened that Eric, instead of getting turned on with the blood; he got… turned-_off_. He actually ended the kiss, left the bed (with me still on it), and looked with remorseful eyes at me.

And then he told me something that I had never heard in all our 800 years together. "I will not have sex with you, Nat."

Ah. What?

"Why not?"

He was kidding, right? He could only be kidding.

And when I asked him why, he said that it was because of that damn human that was living at his place. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. I would not be fucking dumped because of a fucking human. I would not. Especially not by Eric Northman. Not by _my_ Eric Northman. Not _my Enrico_. _Lui era mio._ _Era mio. _He was mine. He was _my vampire_ since that night I had met him in Italy, in a small village close to Rome. _Lui era mio._ He was _my_ friend, _my_ family, _my _lover, _my_ man, _my _vampire. He was fucking mine. He had been mine of over eight centuries. And he would always be. And of that, I was sure.

* * *

**So? Do I have to go and hide somewhere? Eric **_**did**_** kiss her back again and he even picked her up and he then dropped Nat on the bed… So, I'm guessing that I **_**should**_** put myself out of sight... But then he stopped! And that's why I'll take my chances and not run away from angry readers… :) **

**Now, just a couple of details. First, "Francisco" is my other grandfather's name (after Natércia, Adelaide and Álvaro, I was only missing one more grand-parent). Second, "Lui era mio" means something like "he was mine" in Italian. I did once a summer course and that was when I started learning Italian. And despite the fact that it was 12 years ago, I still believe I got it right. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my story. Célia **

**Blaze of Glory is Jon Bon Jovi's first solo album, released in 1990, and its first single as well. It remains a crowd favorite with Bon Jovi fans, despite the fact that the song was not released as one of the band's singles, and only by Jon. The song was also notable for the performance of rock legend Jeff Beck on guitar and it was the theme from Motion Picture "Young Guns II". It starts this way: **_**"Wake up in the morning / And I raise my weary head / I got an old coat for a pillow / And the earth was last night's bed / I don't know where I'm going / Only God knows where I've been / I'm a devil on the run / A six gun lover / A candle in the wind, yeah!"**_


	40. Complicated

**First of all, I'm sorry it took me longer to update this time, but I'm in a very time-consuming phase regarding my job. Anyway, as you already know: these are not my characters (unfortunately), and the story has been **_**beta-ed**_** by the awesome Charhamblin (fortunately). And now, without further ado, here's Eric's POV. I hope you'll enjoy the chapter and tell me your thoughts about it. Thank you, Célia**

**PS: Bon Jovi will be playing here in Lisbon next Sunday night. Now, three guesses, first two don't count, who will be at the concert…? :)**

* * *

**Eric "Complicated"**

I drove to Continental Hotel and I parked close to its doors. I entered inside and I saw her by the hotel's bar. And she was damn sexy in her light grey, tight and provocative suit. She had her hair straight and down, and she had added a very unnecessary pair of reading glasses. And she truly had a "sexy librarian" or "sexy secretary" air about her.

"_Sexy"_ was a word that got thrown around often and casually. Maybe _too_ casually. It was often used to describe a woman's clothes, make-up, hair, lingerie, etc. But when I would think about what it meant to actually _be_ sexy, I would not be thinking about what would be on a woman's body. Instead, I would think about how she would feel in her own skin. And Natércia _was_ sexy. She was fucking sexy. Nat was sexy when she walked with her head held high; and she was sexy in the way she presented herself to the world; and she was sexy when she knew what she wanted. Natércia had almost an inner glow that attracted me to her, like an internal spark that showed in her eyes and smile. It was what made people turn their heads when she walked into a room.

And when I saw her at the hotel's bar, I couldn't stop myself from thinking, all over again, how sexy Nat was. How sexy she had always been. But no matter what I thought about her, I was absolutely sure that I didn't love her as much as I loved Sookie (who was very sexy as well, though in a different way). But I did love Nat, obviously. She had been my best friend for over 800 years and we had many personality traits and past experiences in common. And I would always hope that everything would always happen the best way possible for her, and I knew that I would always be there for her. Besides, I was also sure that I would help her whenever she would need me.

And when I compared, I felt basically the same things regarding Sookie. But with Sookie, it went _way_ beyond that. With Sookie I didn't only _wish_ for her to be happy; I _needed_ to be a part of that happiness. Always! And I did not only _wish_ for her safety; I _knew_ I would die if something were to happen to her. Sookie was my life. I was no one without her. Sookie had made me alive again after a millennium of darkness. She had truly brought me back from the dead. And I really felt alive whenever I was with her.

Yes, I was sure that I loved Natércia. But I also knew that she didn't mean to me, not even _close_, as much as Sookie meant. And so, I would not let myself be caught again in a position where Nat would be able to kiss me. A_ second _time. I would not cheat on Sookie. I didn't want it and Sookie didn't deserve it either. And no matter how long my history with Nat was, or how sexy she looked like, I knew that the last thing I wanted was to hurt Sookie by cheating on her, like both Compton and that bear had done. No, I wouldn't cheat on Sookie. However, that didn't mean that I wouldn't recognize Nat's sexiness. Because… hell… every fucking male in the whole fucking hotel would recognize it just by looking at her dressed like that.

"Hello Eric Northman," Nat said to me, smiling, when I met her at her hotel's lobby. It was ten minutes after 8 pm.

"Natércia," I acknowledge her, and then I added, "Did you sleep well? Is the hotel up to your standards?"

"I'd rather have slept with you, but yes, the hotel's good. And they have a great menu here."

"I'm glad. So, are you ready to go then?"

She definitely looked ready to leave. But that little detail didn't prevent her from trying to stay there. And why? To have sex with me. And how did she show me that that was what she wanted? By moving her hand. To where? Towards my trousers. And right there, in the middle of the hotel's lobby and bar. But she had been smiling her sexy smile, and so I had known what she was going to do, even before she tried it. And, quicker than her, I managed to prevent her hand from touching me. I grabbed her wrist and only let it go when her hand was _way_ above my waist.

"Come on Nat, I can see you're already dressed to leave. So, let's go," I told her.

"Don't be a spoiler. It's still early; let's stay just for a while," she answered.

I didn't want to stay. We hadn't agreed to it. So I just told her that Sookie was expecting us and I didn't want to have her waiting for us. Nat completely disregarded my mention of Sookie and she kept trying to make me stay there, at the hotel, with her.

And because I had showed to her that I would not stay to have sex with her, when I prevented her from stroking my cock in the middle of the hotel's bar, she then tried to enthrall me with blood. And so, she kept saying that she had tasted an awesome and delicious Brazilian girl earlier that night and that I had to taste her as well. "She tastes so natural, Eric. I swear, I could almost smell mango, pineapple and tangerine, as well as other tropical fruits that I couldn't even identify on her blood. She has recently arrived from Mato Grosso, and you know how they eat so much fruit in the interior and poorer states of Brazil. And she's also a looker, in that South American kind of way…"

I wouldn't taste the girl, obviously. I didn't care about her blood. Or her looks, for that matter. She could be a mixture of Megan Fox and Anna Kournikova, with the most tasteful blood in the world, for all I cared. She was _not_ Sookie and so, I was _not_ interested. And when Nat didn't stop insisting that I sampled the girl, I just answered her that I mostly only drank from Sookie and that she satiated all my hunger just by herself.

"But why?"

"Because I don't need more blood than what I drink from her. You're my age. You know we can stay three, even four weeks without blood. And Sookie gives me her blood every week, so I just don't need to drink from anyone else," I easily answered her.

"Yes, but why?"

"I've just told you. Sookie lets me…"

"Yes, I heard," she interrupted me. And then she added, "I meant: why don't you? Even if she gives you her blood, why the hell don't you drink from others?"

"I just don't want to. I don't feel the need," I easily and truthfully answered.

"But why?" She insisted.

"Because I don't like their taste," I said.

"What do you mean 'I don't like their taste'?"

"I meant exactly that: I don't like other humans' taste." What else did she want me to say?

"You don't like blood?" She asked me completely at awe.

I took a very unnecessary breath and then I replied to her, "I do. I like blood. But… I'm just used to drink from Sookie. And when I drink from others now, their blood doesn't taste sweet and metallic and syrupy, all at the same time, like it did before."

"What…? Do you…? So, what does it taste like? I mean, human blood doesn't taste metallic and syrupy to you anymore?"

"That's not it. It's just that I'm just not used to drink from others rather than Sookie anymore," Nat was looking at me with wonder while I continued trying to explain to her the reason behind my… _restricted _diet, "I still enjoy frozen human blood, though."

"But… I…" she said and then she shut up.

"The thing is," I added, "frozen human blood still tastes okay to me. It's just that when I _bite_ other humans, they don't appeal to me anymore. Like I said before, their blood doesn't taste that sweet."

"Their blood doesn't taste that sweet…" Natércia repeated after me. There was an admiration tone in her voice. But it was not an admiration tone as in "amazingly well done, way above expectations", it was more an admiration tone as in "for shit's sake! What the hell are you talking about?"

"Yes. They don't taste as well as Sookie," I answered. And during all that time, Nat kept looking at me as if I had told her that I had started eating fish and chips, instead of drinking from the woman who lived with me, so I added, "You see, she kind of ruined me for others. I just want her blood and no one else's. They are all bland and insipid compared to Sookie. She's mine and I just want her."

It was obvious that Nat was shocked by my confession and didn't know how to react or what to say about it. And so, consequently, she changed the conversation. First, she complimented me on my car (I had a great five-door, four-seats, luxury sedan, with a coupe profile and a rear hatch Porsche Panamera, which Sookie hated). And then Natércia kept talking about her children, Francisco and Alvaro, the whole time since we left the hotel after my admission of my controlled diet and during the whole drive to my place.

And when we got home, I introduced Nat to Sookie and Lizzie. And to tell you the truth, I was a little worried about how they would get along. But Sookie seemed okay with everything and Nat was her usual self as well. I could tell that she thought it was strange that Liz was _that_ comfortable with me, because I was a vampire. But other than the occasional glance to the child that was sitting on my lap, Natércia didn't show her awe at the situation (maybe she had "wasted" all the wonder at my "I only drink from Sookie" confession).

And actually, Natércia even cleared the air when she started talking about Zephyrus, and telling his stories and how he was finding it difficult to adapt to the 21th century. He especially found smoke alarms great (I guess because his own maker had died when a fire erupted in his day resting place, when he was dead to the world). And he also loved liquid paper, of all things. According to Nat, Zephyrus thought that a quick-drying, white-colored liquid that could be painted onto paper to correct printed material was the best thing ever. He recognized the great invention that was the Internet and also the awesome development of cars, airplanes, and even the cell-phone technology obviously. But, of all the second half of the twentieth century inventions, Zephyrus claimed that smoke alarms and liquid paper where the best. Go figure.

And so, Nat, Sookie and I actually had a somewhat nice time talking about Zephyrus, as well as Sookie's days and our bars and my work as a Sheriff. And you know something? Yes, there was some tension between all of us (it was expected after all), but I had thought that that the first meeting between Sookie and Natércia had been as good as one could hope.

But apparently, I had been wrong. Because something _had happened_. Even though I hadn't realized what. And how did I know it? Because Sookie didn't let me kiss her. There I was, thinking that we had spent a nice couple of hours with me, my wife and my friend just easily talking. But apparently, there _had_ been a problem. What problem? Hell if I know. But there had been one. And I was sure of it. Because, like I said, when I was to kiss Sookie goodbye, she moved her head and made me kiss her cheek instead of her lips. I obviously asked what the problem was, but she just said that she was tired. I knew that here was more to it. But I also knew that we would talk about it later (we always did talk about any problem between us), and so I left with Natércia.

I drove to Fangtasia and then I showed Nat the place, after our recent renovations. When the vermin left, Natércia stayed there talking with a few friends and I managed to get some work done. But not as much as I had intended to because I kept thinking about Sookie and her reaction when I left. But damn if I knew what the problem was. It probably had something to do with Nat, but I couldn't figure out what exactly. Nat had been polite. Well, not extremely polite because… well, she was Nat and Sookie was a human… But there hadn't been any insults or harsh words. And she had let Liz alone too. Nat hadn't uttered a single word against Elizabeth. So I couldn't really see what would be troubling Sookie… I would have to wake her up when I got home. No matter how late I would arrive there. I would not let anything come between Sookie and I, and if Nat had done anything that had bothered Sookie, then I wanted to how about it.

Anyway, an hour later, when I decided that my worries about Sookie wouldn't let me work, I joined the other vampires in the public part of the bar. And quite unexpectedly, I actually had a nice vampire night. I knew that being with Sookie and Liz almost every night was great; but I guess that sometimes a vampire night was needed.

And Pam, true to her Natércia's hate, was nowhere in sight. I had asked her before to keep an eye on Mark Sottomayor, de Castro's emissary. But I was sure that he had already left for the night. So Pam would have been able to be there with us, if she had wanted to. But, as I said, spot on her Natércia's abhorrence, she hadn't shown her face there that night.

Two hours before dawn, we all left and I drove Nat to her hotel. And that time, despite my better judgment, I entered her room because she had a few documents for me. In Canada, she had met Adelaide (the younger child of Ocella's maker) and I was to receive few papers, which I should sign to get my part of Ocella's inherence.

First of all, Lai had had the best reaction to Ocella's death that I could have hoped for. Pam had called her and she had explained everything. And later, I had also talked to Adelaide on the phone about my maker. And despite her sorrow for her loss (and it had been _my_ loss too), she understood that we had only done it because we had really needed to. Ocella hadn't been killed on a whim. He had died because he hadn't left us any other choice. And Lai understood that. And secondly, I had told Adelaide, over and over again, that I didn't want anything because my child had been the one who had finally killed Ocella, and so Lai should get everything that Ocella had had. But she had insisted on it. She kept saying that my maker had loved me and that he would have wanted me to have part of his proprieties and money. And so, because Natércia insisted on giving me Adelaide's documents that night, I went upstairs with her to her room.

But as soon as we got there though, she didn't give me a single paper. Instead, her lips attacked my mouth again and she kissed me. At first, I tried to get away from her, but she kept hugging me with all her strength, which was very similar to mine, and I didn't manage to get free from her. And, to be truthful, I didn't think that I tried that hard to loosen her hold on me. Why? I didn't know. I just knew that Nat had always had almost a _pull_ over me. A few seconds later, her nails, even through my shirt, pierced the skin on my shoulders, making me bleed a little. And the blood's smell worked immediately as a powerful aphrodisiac to both of us, which made me forget all about Sookie.

And soon, we were on her bed.

And about to undress.

Yes, the blood's smell and that pull we had always felt towards each other clouded my mind for a few seconds and I actually found myself about to undress. And I just couldn't understand why. I knew that we had shared drops of blood here and there in the past 800 years while we engaged in sex. We were _vampires_, and we were close to each other, so it was understandable. But I did not see that as being bonded to Nat. Not a lover's bond anyway. And definitely not what I had had with Sookie. And I _could_ feel the difference. Besides, I would sometimes go years, hell even _decades_, without a drop of Nat's blood so any "pull" I would feel would have worn off. Nevertheless, every now and then, I could _almost_ feel her influence over me. And that I just didn't understand. At all. I _really_ hadn't wanted to do what I was about to do. But, nonetheless, there I was, kissing Natércia.

However, those clouds in my mind suddenly disappeared just a few seconds later. And why? Because when Nat's pointed (and full of lust) fangs broke my lips' skin, I realized that I wasn't used to kissing someone with fangs. Not anymore.

Yes, I had been with Nat for a few consecutive years, _at least_ twenty times. Not to mention all those other "one or two weeks" of non-stop fucking. I had kissed Natércia thousands and thousands of times during the whole eight centuries that I had known her. But somehow, at that moment, I felt strange kissing her. Because Nat had fangs. And I didn't know how to kiss someone with fangs anymore. Because _Sookie _didn't have fangs. _Sookie. _And in that same second, I also realized that I was about to make a huge mistake. I didn't want Nat, and I didn't love her. I _wanted_ and I _loved_ Sookie.

I left the Queen sized bed in half a second.

"What?" Nat asked from the bed as soon as I got up. Her hair was messy because of me, and she looked almost breathless, though I knew that she couldn't be. Fuck. I had come close to having sex with Natércia. What the hell had I been thinking? I didn't want to have sex with her. I wouldn't have sex with her. I wouldn't do that to Sookie. And Nat had to understand it.

"I will not have sex with you, Nat," I told her.

"Why not?" She didn't sound angry. Not _yet_, at least. She just sounded curious.

But why was she asking me that? It was obvious why I wouldn't fuck her. I was in a relationship already. I had a wife, who I loved. "I am with Sookie now. You know that. You've met her tonight."

"Yes, I know that and I met her. But my question stands: why not?" She repeated her words and then she cleaned part of my blood from her lips with her tongue. And there had been a time when seeing Nat on a bed, cleaning some blood from her lips, had been the quintessence of sexy. There had been a time when it would have been a huge turn-on. But not anymore. And she had to stop trying to seduce me. I would not have sex with her, no matter what. I was _Sookie_'s husband.

She had repeated her words before, and so, like her, I also replicated my words. But I was growling now, and I paused between the words for emphasis. "I am. With Sookie. Now."

She roared me back in the same way, and then she said, growling and with pauses as well: "I don't see. Why that. Would matter." But then she put her fangs in and without them, she spoke again in her normal voice, "Okay, so you have a pet. A strange pet that you've kept at your house for two years, whatever the motive. And besides, for some eccentric and bizarre reason, you drink mostly of her and no one else. I don't get it, Eric, but hell, you're my friend and I accept it," she said moving from the center of the bed. She then sat on it, next to the bedside table and added, "But that woman is just a pet. She's a human, Eric."

The way she said "she's a human" was as condescending as it could be. And she used exactly the same voice and face expression that Sookie had used with Liz the previous week when Lizzie had wanted to dress Nike and buy him shoes. And then it hit me; right there. Even though I had once been like Natércia, I was not anymore. Sookie meant the world to me. She would never be as unimportant as a pet, as a dog, as Nike. Hell, even Nike was important to me now because he was important to Lizzie. See? I said "he", I didn't say "it"; and I had been talking about Nike! Yes, I _was_ a different man. I was _definitely_ a different man now. I was_ not_ the same vampire that Nat had known. I had a family now.

"Sookie is not a pet. She is my wife Nat. She is the one I blood bonded a decade ago. She is the same girl that you helped me forget," I answered her with a normal voice too. Natércia had known all about my previous relationship with Sookie. But, like with Ocella, I hadn't told her Sookie's name. For some reason, I had felt the need to keep her name unknown to both of them, so there wouldn't be any chance that Sookie would be mistreated by either of them for leaving me.

Natércia kept quiet for a few seconds, as if she was digesting that new piece of information, and then she said, almost whispering: "But there's no blood bond now, right? She smelled of you… But she doesn't have your blood in her now, does she?"

"She doesn't."

"Good. That's good. So you aren't that attached to her then. And I am sure that being with me will help you so you'll be able to put everything in perspective again. You will see that she is just a human and we are way better. We are the same. We belong together. We are great together," she said.

And at the same time she was saying those words, she left the bed and walked towards me. The "sexy me" smile I knew so well was back to her lips. And I knew that in her mind, everything was clear: I had a problem, almost an addiction, and she would take care of it for me; she would free me from Sookie. But nothing could be further from the truth than those thoughts. Because I knew that even if I was to leave Louisiana with Nat right then and there, and never see Sookie _ever again_, I wouldn't forget her. Ever. Because I _truly loved_ Sookie. And I couldn't live without her and Liz in my life. And in that moment, I just wished that Nat would leave and not come back, so Sookie and I would be alright again.

"No, Nat. She won't forgive me if I sleep with y…"

"She's a fucking human Eric," Natércia screamed at me, interrupting me. Her fangs popped out again. But this time, it wasn't lust that had made them come out. It was anger. She was being let down because I was choosing _a human_ over her. Yes, I could see why there would be anger. But she better not focus her anger on Sookie. I could deal with Nat being mad at me, but I would be damned if I would let her hurt _my wife._

My fangs popped out as well and I snarled at her, "She is _my_ human and I will only fuck _her_. No one else."

She was already out of the bed now, and for a second we just stood there, looking at each other. It almost looked like a bad soap opera, or something. And then she said with a normal voice, but with her fangs still out: "If Ocella could see you now, he would puke blood at your feet. The way you are behaving because of her… Staying with a human and a fucking were-child..." Her voice showed her contempt and disapproval at my life choices. And then she said, "If you like her so much, why did you break the bond in the first place? And why doesn't she have your blood again now? What's the matter Eric? Don't you trust your little human with your blood anymore?" She asked, with a smile full of disdain.

And… there she was. The _real_ Natércia. The scorning and hateful Natércia. The one who had once been my perfect mate because I had been just the same. But she was _not_ anymore.

"I've offered. Sookie is the one who is not ready to take it yet," I replied.

"You offered your blood? You offered your _1000-year-old_ blood? And _she_ didn't want it?" Nat laughed out loud, "You're so different from what you were... You're a pale image of yourself now. What happened to you?" she asked. And when I didn't answer her, after a patronizing sound, she added, "Yes, Ocella would definitely be ashamed of you if he were to watch your behavior now. He'd feel embarrassed if he saw you when you are next to that fucking human."

"Ocella met Sookie. He saw me with her. And first he didn't, but then he understood," I answered.

"I find that very hard to believe. She's a fucking human!"

"Nonetheless, it is the truth. And do not call her fucking human," I said in my normal voice. And then I screamed: "She is my wife!"

And that was it. That was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Because then, Natércia immediately _jumped_ at me. And I don't mean that she was trying to have sex with me again, like before. I meant that she actually jumped at me, attacking me, and I fell to the ground. Her arms and hands turned into weapons and she assaulted me nonstop because she kept pounding my chest and attacking my face over and over again. And for a minute there, I just defended myself and tried to prevent further damage to me. But when I realized that Nat wouldn't stop her physical attack, I started attacking her as well.

I quickly wondered why we were still just alone without anyone entering her hotel room. But the walls were probably sound-proof and people wouldn't hear us screaming and growing at each other.

A few minutes later, Nat managed to push me into the mirror and it broke all around my back, making me bleed, which aggravated even more both my and Nat's bloodlust and anger. That fight was way more serious than I had wanted for it to be. I really had to stop it. And so I said a sentence that carried a whole lot of weight between us.

"She's my companion," I finally managed to say ten minutes into our fight. And, like I said before, that phrase had a great connotation between us. Why? Because Nat and I had always seen each other as real companions in life. Companions through time. We had been each other's anchor when everything went to hell and we had helped each other when the world's changes were too much to deal with. We had always believed in each other when the odds were against us. And that had happened over and over again for the previous 800 years.

Nat immediately took her hands away from me and got up. And then she just stared at me. I looked back at her and we stood there, glancing at each other. The bad soap-opera aspect of it returned. But that time, it was a _violent_ soap-opera, for sure. Nat's face and right arm were blooded, her clothes were in shreds and she had broken her nose. I looked down at myself and I saw that I was more or less the same.

"Nat, I…"

But she interrupted me immediately. "Get out," she whispered with a sad, low voice.

"But Natér…"

"Please Eric just… go away," she whispered again.

And so, I left.

A vampire with shredded and bloodied clothes was apparently a normal thing on the Continental Hotel, and no one gave me a second look when I walked through the lobby to my car. I didn't want to dirty the seat's upholstery of my car, but getting home was way more important than that and I just got inside and drove to my place.

I got home just an hour before dawn, but I woke Sookie nonetheless. I had to talk to her. I had to tell her what had happened that night and I also needed to understand what had bothered her before. I didn't want to dirty the bed linens either, and so I just sat on top of it and I touched Sookie's face to wake her up. She woke up easily and immediately started rambling about what I had done that night. But I could only figure out that she was still mad at _me_ for some reason. So I just asked her to better explain her concerns. And that was when she saw my blooded and shredded clothes.

"Oh my God! Are you okay? What happened to you?" she asked looking at my face and grabbing my hands. Her forehead was frowned and I could see her worried lines on it. She looked extremely preoccupied and I felt bad about myself for giving her yet another worry.

"I am," I answered right away.

"What happened?"

"Natércia attacked me and we fought," I replied.

She kept her hands on mine, but she kind of got up and sat on the bed. And then, she asked if I had killed Natércia. And when she pronounced that question, Sookie's face was badly hiding a smile.

But… _No_. Of course not. How could Sookie even ask me that? I wouldn't kill Nat. She was my friend. She had been my best friend for centuries. And the fact that Sookie had somehow hoped that I had killed her bothered me because Sookie would be sort of happy if I had killed Natércia. And that… it made _me_ sad. Because I was sure that I wouldn't seriously harm Nat. Never.

Besides, I knew that _Nat_ had to understand my relationship with Sookie and I had tried to help her understanding it that night; thought I admit that I wasn't very successful at that. But _Sookie_ also needed to see that Natércia was a long-time friend. We had gone through too much shit together during the last centuries, and no matter what, I knew that I could count on Nat. And Sookie had to see things that way just as Nat had to understand how importance Sookie and Liz were to me.

"I did not. I would not. She is my friend," I seriously answered her.

"If she is your friend, why did she attack you?" She asked immediately after my words, and then let go of my hands. And… Well… It really _was_ a good question. And I knew its answer. Nat had attacked me because I hadn't fucked her. Because I had left her on the bed alone after I had kissed her back. For a second time in as many nights. But… could I tell that to Sookie? Should I? I didn't know what to say, so I didn't answer her. I was still feeling kind of sorry for the kisses. I regretted kissing Nat back. But they were just that: kisses.

"Eric?" She whispered.

"She wanted to have sex with me," I finally answered.

Sookie gasped and moved slightly away from me. She then deeply sighed. "Are these… Are these the result of some crazy hardcore vampire sex?" She asked while pointing at my clothes. I looked back at me again, and I could see why she would have thought it. A few of the buttons on my shirt had been ripped off during the fight and Sookie could see part of my upper body. "Are you leaving me?" she asked too, with a trembling voice.

"No," I mumbled. A little two-letters word, than answered her two questions.

"Do you _want_ to leave me?"

How could she even think it? I wanted to stay with her forever. For-_fucking-_ever. When would Sookie understand that? "Sookie, I am not leaving you. Nor do I want to. Why are you asking me that?"

But she didn't answer me. Instead she asked me another question. "Did you have sex with her?"

I didn't answer her again. And, like before, she whispered my name, "Eric?"

"She kissed me and I kissed her back," I admitted. I was ashamed of my behavior and I hated what I had done. I was full of remorse. And I had been that way since I had kissed Nat. But I _had_ kissed Nat. And I had to tell Sookie about it. She deserved to know. But as soon as I answered her, Sookie gasped again and moved even further from me. I felt my heart tearing apart when I saw her moving away from me. And the worst part was that I knew the pain I was inflicting to Sookie.

"Did you have sex with her?" she repeated her previous question.

"Sookie, I kissed her for one minute when I realized that I loved you."

"But did you have sex with her?"

"I had to fight her because I did not. I will never cheat on you. I love you Sookie," I answered.

"So… you didn't sleep with her?"

"No. I didn't sleep with her. I kissed her back. And it… it happened twice," I paused when I saw a tear on her face and then I took an unnecessary breath before I added, "But it was only for one or two minutes. I swear it was only for one or two minutes, at most. I just did something that I had done thousands of times before. My instincts kicked in. But…"

"Are you in love with her?" she asked, interrupting me.

"No, I am not. I just… I do not even know why I kissed her back. I just did it. But it didn't feel right because she wasn't you. And I am in love with _you_. And I am so sorry of what I did Sookie," I replied.

She kept staring at me for a few minutes. I guess that the jury was deliberating. I knew how there was always a pause when the jury went out to consider the verdict. And I was on the defendant bench at that precise moment.

"I do love you Sookie. You and Liz mean the world to me," I whispered four or five minutes after we had stopped talking. And after those four or five minutes when Sookie just kept staring at me in silence (which were probably the longest five minutes of my life), I was not given a "you're forgiven" ruling, but I wasn't exactly convicted either. I guess the jury needed more time to reach a verdict.

"I think you should sleep downstairs tonight," she finally said.

I stood there, looking at her for another minute and then I asked if she was sure.

"I am," she answered.

"And then? What will happen tomorrow? Will you be here when I wake up?"

"I don't know," she said sadly.

"And what about Liz?" Would I be able to see Lizzie again? Or would Sookie take my daughter away from me with her? Would I lose _both_ of them? I had already once lost Sookie. And if I was to lose her again, as well as Elizabeth, then… Well, then I didn't even know what would happen. Because I couldn't even conceive such a situation.

"I don't know that either," she answered.

"You don't know?" I asked, repeating after her.

"I don't know."

And again, like before, I just stood there, glaring at her, until I decided to try one last time, "Sookie, please I…"

"Just…" she interrupted me, and then, after she took a deep breath, she added, "Eric, please leave."

I got up and then I went to Lizzie's bedroom, and I watched her sleep for a few minutes before I went to my basement's bedroom. And when I turned on the locks and the alarm of my day resting place, I thought, all over again, how I had fucked up everything with Sookie. And how sorry I was for my bad behavior. And how I hoped that she would be able to forgive me. And then, I even pondered going upstairs and hell… I don't know… Even try to glamour her to forgive me my mistake. But I knew that I wouldn't be able to glamour Sookie. And besides, I wasn't sorry that I had confessed everything to her. I really had had to tell her everything. And, at least, I had been man enough to admit my sins to her and just… come clean.

I took a shower before I went to bed. And then I went to sleep. And just before the dawn stupor took me away for the day, I realized that I had never felt so alone in my whole life, than in that exact moment.

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**So? What did you think about the chapter? Can you understand Eric a little better now? At least, he did come clean with everything and he's sorry for what he did. That has to mean something, right? Oh, and thank you for keep reading even after 40 chapters! I can only hope that I'm still keeping things interesting for you. Célia**

"**Have a Nice Day" is Bon Jovi's ninth studio album, released in September 2005 and it includes the song "Complicated". Its chorus goes this way: **_**"I'm complicated, I get frustrated / Right or wrong, love or hate it / I'm complicated, you can't sedate it / I heard that song but I won't play it / It's alright, it's OK, you wouldn't want me any other way / Momma, keep on praying 'cause I ain't changin' / I'm complicated, yeah / I'm complicated, yeah"**_


	41. Better Think Twice

**Hi! So… there were over 60 000 people at Bon Jovi's concert. And it was GREAT! And so was the last scene of Sunday's episode of True Blood! OMG! OMG! OMG! My only problem with that was the part when Alan Ball cut the scene to… Bill! Seriously? WTF? I've been waiting for that scene since 2008. And he takes away Sookie and Eric's moment and cuts to Bill, right in the middle of it? Arght!**

**Anyway, here's chapter 41, a Sookie's POV. Now, I've received as many reviews saying that Sookie should forgive Eric (because he was honest with her, telling her about kissing Natércia, and all) as those who'd prefer that she left for a while (so he could really think about his behavior). And, to be "political", I'll try to meet/write somewhere in the middle. So, just trust me, okay? And, as usual, I must say a public "thank you" for Charhamblin's help betaing this chapter. She rocks! And you guys rock too! Thank you for reading! I hope you'll enjoy the chapter. Kisses and hugs from Portugal! Célia**

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**Sookie "Better Think Twice"**

When Eric left our home with his "oldest friend" just after I met her I wasn't sure if we would survive "Hurricane Natércia". I was feeling insecure and sad and it took me more than a couple of hours to fall asleep, but, eventually, I cried myself into a restless slumber.

I kept thinking and remembering Eric's words and behavior with Natércia and I just felt insecure about what we had built over the two previous years. Would Eric leave me? Everything had been going so smoothly between us… I had thought that we were happy together, and with Liz. But, at that moment, I started questioning everything.

Yes, it had taken Eric a whole year after I had moved back to Louisiana for him to tell me that he loved me, but ever since that first "I love you", he had told me his feelings about me so many more times… And I had thought that we were _the real thing_. And even though he was, well… incredibly good-looking, attractive, and confident, as well as a powerful businessman and vampire, with dozens of pretty, young girls jumping for a chance to be with him (and sometimes even actually jumping _at him_), I had never felt insecure about our relationship since I had come back to Louisiana. Not once. Even when I was hearing thoughts and fantasies of twenty-something girls concerning Eric (and some of those thoughts and fantasies were _extremely_ graphic and explicit), I hadn't felt insecure about us. Until that night when I met Natércia, that is. In fact, until then, Eric had always made me feel that I was the only woman in the world for him. But, all of a sudden, there was someone else.

But we _were_ hit by "Hurricane Natércia" and, out of the blue, I started being afraid that Eric and I wouldn't be together for long. And I worried about the trail of destruction that that particular hurricane would leave in our relationship.

Okay, granted, he _had_ tried to kiss me when he left, and he didn't sound as if he'd leave with Natércia on a white-horse riding… well… not _into_ the sunset, but rather _just after_ the sunset. But he _had_ put his hand on her knee. And he _had_ looked so completely at ease with Natércia… And she had _had_ looked like his companion, as he had called her. Actually, she had looked like his _perfect_ companion. Add that to Pam's words telling me that Eric had left her for Natércia. Eric had left _Pam_,his vampire _child_, with whom he had just spent _three_ _decades_ together. Yes, everyone _could_ condone my fear.

And then I just wondered, over and over again, if it was the fact that I had kept sleeping mainly during the night, or if it was the lack of a blood-bond that was making Eric behave that way. Would Eric stay with me if I had bonded with him again and if I had started accepting our marriage? But, then again, did I want to be with a man who'd be willing to leave me because I didn't agree with him? And what about Liz? If Eric left me, would he still want to be Lizzie's dad? Would _I_ want him to?

Yes, all those thoughts and insecurities towards Eric really messed with my head and only after a couple of hours crying about it after he and his _friend_ left our home, was I able to fall asleep.

But then, later that night, I was awakened by him. And Eric had come back with shredded and bloodied clothes. I immediately imagined him and Natércia in an orgy of sorts with four or five fangbangers. I could clearly picture Natércia tearing Eric's shirt apart while he did the same to her clothes, so they could have some kind of amazing and primal vampire-sex, full of vampire-stamina. And then they would bite and drink humans together and after that they'd just laugh when they talked about "Eric's silly human and her child". And so, for a minute there, I just thought that Eric had drove home only to tell me to pack my things and leave his house _immediately_.

But, thank God, he instead told me he had engaged in a fight with Natércia _because_ he _hadn't _had sex with her. However, no matter my happiness that he had come back home to me, and that he apparently still wanted me, I kept feeling scared and with doubts about our relationship and I just couldn't comprehend what he was saying to me. I couldn't grasp the idea that Natércia had met me and Liz (the woman who had been living with Eric for the last two years and the child that called him dad), and just a few hours after meeting us, she had tried to have sex with him. But Eric was telling me that she had. She had actually tried to have sex with Eric, knowing that he had someone else. And she had tried to do it, because she was expecting it. And why? Because regardless of the people that either of them might be dating, they were _expected_ to have sex. Because they _always_ did. And so, even though Natércia had met me, she had still expected Eric to, well, being blunt about it, just… fuck her.

So, yes, you could say that I _really_ didn't understand it. The whole "she's my friend and we have sex whenever we meet" concept really wasn't clear to me. Not at all. Yes, there were "fuck buddies" and other designations like that. And I understood that concept. But those people couldn't be friends. They just couldn't. They were just people who meet to… well, have sex. But if you were friends with somebody, really friends, then you didn't have sex with that person, because it would risk the friendship; and _real friends _weren't willing to jeopardize their friendship just for an orgasm. In my mind, you could either be just friends, or you were boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife… whatever. You couldn't be both!

And, like I said before, even with Eric there, on our bed, I was still kind of scared that he would choose her over me. He _had_ said that he hadn't had sex with her that night. But would he sleep with her tomorrow night? Or the night after? Pam's story of how Eric had ended their 30-year long sexual relationship because of Natércia had frightened me to my core. So, yeah, I was still pretty scared of being abandoned.

And there was also the fact that he and Natércia had been a couple on again and off again for so many years. For so many _centuries_, actually. God! Centuries! How could I ever compete with such a long history between them? We had only been a couple for a little over two years. What was that in Eric's long life? And besides, Natércia was a vampire. For one, she understood his needs and feelings regarding his… well, _vampire_ persona. And secondly, she would always be the young beautiful woman she was, whereas I was just a human. Yes, I was getting older, albeit slightly slower than a regular human; but I _already_ looked quite older than Natércia (she looked like she was on her early twenties). Besides, they had had a huge history together and they were the same in many ways. And so, yes, I _still_ feared that Eric would… well, dump me. Why? Because I was also almost sure that he would choose his friend over me. I guess that Bill's Lorena-affair and David's Ashley-affair would always sink my self-esteem, no matter how much I tried to forget those episodes.

But then, Eric told me that not only had he _not_ had sex with her, but also that he wouldn't be leaving me for his friend. Like: _never_. And, just for the record, I _might_ have asked him to repeat it several times. But when I finally believed him… Jesus! You won't believe the relief I felt. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. And I felt incredibly thankful that I wouldn't be abandoned by Eric. He was still mine, just as I was his. He wasn't leaving! He was staying there with me and I wouldn't suffer from his departure because he wouldn't cheat on me.

Until he told me that he had kissed her. Twice.

Flashes of Bill's face when Eric made him tell me that he had originally made my acquaintance because his Queen had ordered him to do it appeared before my eyes, while I heard in my mind David's voice and his words telling me that he had a son from another woman.

I wanted to scream, and cry and just get the hell out of there, because of what Eric had done. I had left more than a decade before _exactly_ because of that. Even then, I had felt that Eric was my true love. And that had been the reason why I had run away from him on the first place. Bill had hurt me before, but I had been able to recover from that because it had only been a little more than a crush. However, I had also been sure that if Eric ever broke my heart that way, I simply would _not_ pull through. So I had left because I loved him too much and _there_ lied the problem and what scared me. Yes, I had moved to Tennessee because I had been sure that I wouldn't be enough for Eric. I had feared that I would only be his "flavor of the week" and that I would be exchanged for someone else. And _that _would have just killed me. And so I had left my family, my friends and my job because I had been sure that I would not recuperate from a broken-heart caused by Eric.

And apparently, I had been right. Because there he was, Eric, telling me that he had kissed another woman. I almost felt like I wanted to die.

But then, in less than a second, I realized that yes, he _had_ cheated on me (a kiss _did_ constitute cheating in my book), but he had also _told_ me about it. He hadn't lied. Instead, Eric had come forward and told me about it while I looked at his full-of-regret blue eyes. I saw the dark-blue rim and I saw the even mix of pale blue and white rays in the iris of his eyes. And I saw that he truly was sorry for what he had done, and I just knew that he really wished that he could take it back.

And then I remembered how I had left him a decade before, and Pam's words about how hard it had been for Eric. And there was also the fact that he had gone to me, to help me, while I was married to another man in Tennessee. Twice. Besides, I truly believed that Eric regretted the kiss (or _kisses_, I guess). And even though I was still very sad about the whole thing, Eric's words telling me about how guilty he felt and his sorrow-eyes almost convinced me that I should give him another chance. But the operative word there is _almost. _Eric _almost_ convinced me that I should give him another chance. But… I just… I couldn't. At least, not _yet. _And so, I didn't utter a single word about forgiving him or not.

Instead, I asked him to sleep in the basement room that night. Because, let's be honest, even if I was to just forgive him, would I ever be able to trust him again? And that was the main question. Would I be able to trust him once more?

And after I asked him to leave, he just… he left.

And you know something? The fact that he left that easily hurt me almost as much as knowing that he had kissed another woman. Because it was as if I wasn't worthy of his fight… I had wanted for him to insist, to make me forgive him. I wanted Eric to scream that he wouldn't leave because he loved me; I wanted him to yell that I was his and that I would always be his; and I wanted him to say that we would stay together forever and that our relationship was too strong and that we would survive this problem as well. Yes, I know, I know… I had never enjoyed possessive-Eric before, but at that moment he was exactly what I needed. But instead, Eric just got up and left the bedroom. And there I stayed, crying alone for another two hours until it was time to wake Liz up.

As soon as I drove Liz to her school, I then called Bobby Burnham and I told him that I wouldn't be going to Fangtasia that morning because I had personal things to attend to. I also told him that if he needed me, I would have my cell-phone with me at all times. Bubby mumbled something about how we had agreed to both meet a new potential franchiser, but I just couldn't care about anything of that. I told him to meet the guy just by himself, and to try to schedule a new meeting with me for the following week. And when I ended the call, I wondered if I would still be helping Eric with the bars next week, or not. And then I went back home.

And after I parked at home and went inside, I had a mini-psychotic episode, and I pulled an "Amelia Broadway", by cleaning the whole upstairs floor with extra detail and care until it was a little past midday. And during that whole time, I kept thinking about Eric and about our last two and a half years together. And those thoughts kept telling me that I needed to just forgive him. But then, in one second, I could almost hear again David's words about Ashley, the young were-bear that he had been dating while he was still married to me, and I was sure that I didn't want to go though that ever again. And Eric _had_ cheated on me. A kiss was still cheating and I was wondering if I would ever be able to trust Eric… _ever again_.

I was still completely undecided and confused about everything, and about what I should do. And so, I pondered if I should talk to someone about it. And for some reason, I immediately thought of Niall and Claudine. But the portals had been closed for a few years, and I knew that there was no way that I would ever be able to get in touch with them, so I discarded that option. And then I thought about Amelia. She was still a close friend. But she wasn't as close as she had once been. And besides, she was still in New Orleans, and I didn't want to talk about Eric cheating on me by phone. And, let's not forget, Amelia was never an Eric's fan, so she would probably just tell me that I should just leave him and get over with it. And I really needed to hear honest advice, not an already defined opinion. And so, for the same reason, Pam, wasn't an option either because she was Eric's child and would always take his side of things. Besides, she was dead at the moment. And that left Tara and Sam. But neither of them were vampire fans either; and they both had such good relationships with their spouses, that I really thought that they wouldn't be able to help me. And, of course, there was Jason. But I wouldn't ask advice from a guy who was on his fourth marriage.

So, I kept cleaning. And I cleaned the whole downstairs floor until a little after 2 pm, when I stopped to make a grilled-cheese sandwich. And soon as I was done eating, I just decided that I had to keep cleaning, and so I went down one more floor, to Eric's day room.

I opened the door, and I entered his pre-chamber. I immediately closed the door and a light automatically switched on then. I turned the alarm off, and then I finally entered Eric's room. He was, obviously, laying there on his bed. And it took me only one look at him before I decided that I would pack a few days of clothes for me and Liz and that we would both just leave.

And why? Because, well… Eric was there, obviously, lying on the bed. And he was, as expected, dead to the world. But my problem wasn't with Eric. It was with the bed sheets around him. The _white _bed sheets around him, which were still pretty much white. I mean, he hadn't cried for our relationship. And he hadn't even stayed awake into the day (causing him bleedings) because of us. Yes, I knew. He was Eric Northman. He wouldn't be a "crying baby" and weep over me. And I didn't want that either. I just want a little sensibility. I wanted a reaction. And if he wouldn't cry, I wished that he had instead, at least, broken something in anger. Or that his bed sheets showed me that he had tossed and turned on his bed, just because he was missing my body next to him. Hell, I had cried myself to sleep on the previous night. And I had stayed in bed for a couple of hours that same morning, also crying all the tears that I still had in me. Whereas Eric had only laid down and slept. Or died. Or… Whatever! The point was that he hadn't reacted at all. Was it too much to ask that he would be sad because I hadn't forgiven him on the previous night? Or angry with himself because of what he had done? Was it? _Was it?_

I immediately left his room, I closed its locks and I turned on the alarm again and then I went to Lizzie's room and I packed clothes for three days, and a few other important objects for Liz. And then I went to my own bedroom and I did the same for me, before I packed the toothbrushes, shampoos and other such items. I wasn't sure yet where we would be staying, but I was sure that I didn't want to stay there. _With him._

I could obviously go back to Bon Temps… My family and my best friends lived there. But it was a week-night and Liz had to go to school on the next day. And her school, as well as her ballet and swimming classes, were in Shreveport, obviously. And I wanted to maintain Lizzie's schedules and "normal life" as much as I could. So I decided that we would both stay at a close by hotel, and just spend the night there. Tomorrow would be another day, and I would decide what to do and where I would be then, like Scarlett O'Hara. Because, at that moment, the only two things I knew was that I wanted peace and that I didn't want to be close to Eric.

And so, as soon as it was 4pm, I went and I picked Liz from her ballet lesson (the school had a van and they drove the kids to their after-school activities). But then, when Liz got inside the car and she buckled up the seatbelt around her car seat, I just couldn't make myself start the car.

"Mom! Mom!" Liz started calling me from the back seat, "I've buckled up already. Mom?"

I then turned around so I could look at her, and I told her that I wanted to take her to some place special for the evening, and I asked her where she wanted to go. And she immediately said that she wanted to go to the mall so we could eat ice cream and then go to the hairdresser. Lizzie had always loved to have her hair done and paint her nails, and she even had a phase when she wanted to be a hairdresser when she grew up (it was after the "lawyer" phase, and before the "veterinarian" phase; recently, she wanted to be a singer _besides _being a vet, even though she couldn't carry a tune any better than I could). And so, I gladly told her that we could do that.

As soon as we got to the mall, our first stop was, as per Liz's instructions, the ice-cream shop. And, quite strangely for Liz, I let her chose a big chocolate sundae, instead of a smaller fruit ice-cream (sometimes I even had her choose frozen yogurt instead of ice-cream). And why did I let her choose that big dessert? Well, there was a quite obvious reason for that. I was about to tell her that we wouldn't be going home for, _at least_, a few days, and I just wanted to soften the blow of that news.

And I tried, I swear that I tried. But no matter how big Lizzie's ice-cream was I couldn't make myself tell her that Eric and I might separate. Helen, Lizzie's best friend at school, had recently gone through her parent's divorce. And I knew that Liz would understand immediately the truth behind the "we're not going home tonight". And so, I decided that I would do it, over pizza, and after the hairdresser. Okay… Call me chicken if you must. And I… Well, I admit it. I've never enjoyed dealing with the bad stuff in my personal life. I had, after all, grown up with the knowledge that I was different from everyone else, but that I should _never _talk about it with _anyone_. And I guess that created in me some kind of don't-talk-about-important-personal-stuff syndrome. But, damn it! My own mother had been kind of scared of me. And even though Gran had never been afraid of me, she had been afraid _for _me. And she had told me over and over again that I should never speak to people about my problem, or twist, or curse, or whatever you want to call my telepathy. And so, as Pam had once said a couple of months after I moved back to Louisiana with Eric, I had become an "avoider" (Pam had called me that when we were talking about the time when I had run away to Tennessee).

But "avoider" or not, I would talk to Liz that day. I would only _avoid_ Eric. But I wouldn't run away from my own daughter. I was just… _postponing_ it for a few more hours.

And so, we did go to the hairdresser, and we stayed there for a little over than two hours, getting our hair and nails done. And after that, we did go to a pizzeria that was one of Lizzie's favorites. We were already on our dessert (again, I allowed Liz a piece of chocolate cake, which she was supposed to share with me, even though I didn't have the stomach to eat anything), when _Liz_, even without knowing, started the conversation that I had been delaying (and dreading) the whole afternoon.

"Is dad meeting us here now?" She asked, all of a sudden.

"Why do you ask that?" I said immediately.

Did she know what had happened on the previous night? Had she listened to my mind? Could Liz hear people's thoughts? Liz had never showed any telepathic gifts or whatever you wanted to call it. But what if she started now? Or, instead, had she just heard, in the normal way, Eric telling me about Natércia? Had she heard him telling me that he had kissed another woman? Had she seen me crying after I had asked Eric to leave the bedroom? Would I traumatize my daughter somehow? Unfortunately, on those days, there were way too many children with divorced parents. But Liz had already lost David. I didn't want for her to have to mourn Eric's absence as well. Would that harm Liz somehow? Should I take her to a psychologist, perhaps? Or even a psychiatrist? Would Liz need to take prescription medicines? Would she be depressed? Oh God!

"Because it's night already," she easily answered me. Okay. She had only asked because it was night. And it made sense. Night was Eric's time and it was completely normal that she would ask about him because it was night. But I hadn't even thought about that simple explanation. Instead, I was already picturing the worst case scenario, with either mind-reading or anti-depression drugs! Jesus! What was wrong with me?

But anyway, her answer made me look at the big windows in the mall, and realize that Liz was right. It _was_ already night time.

"No, sweetheart, he isn't," I answered my daughter while I went to pick my cell-phone from my purse. And there was no missing phone call from Eric, and not even a single text message from him. I pondered if I should call him, but I discarded that option. _Eric_ had been the one at fault here, and I wouldn't make it easy for him.

"Okay," Liz replied me and continued eating her chocolate cake.

"Listen, baby, mom needs to talk to you about a serious matter. A grown-up's serious matter," I told her. Liz moved her eyes form the cake to me and kind of nodded for me to continue. I then took a deep breath. It was time to tell my daughter that we wouldn't be going home that night. "What I wanted to tell you is that… Well…. We're not going home after we leave here."

"Why? Where are we going?" she asked immediately.

"Because… Well, you remember how you were angry with that tall boy in your class, what's his name? Richard? The one who broke the clay bowl you had made that day?"

"Huh-uh," she mumbled while moving her head, telling me that she remembered.

"Well, mom is sort of angry with dad and so…"

"Did he break something?" she asked interrupting me.

_My heart_.

I sighed and then I said, "Dad did other grown-up things and I'm kind of mad at him."

"Oh," she answered looking with a serious face at me. I guess that she was expecting that I would continue my explanation about what Eric had done. But in the meantime, I just stood there, glancing back at her, while I hoped that she'd make the leap from "mom is angry with dad" to "we won't be going back home soon". However, when my 7-year-old daughter,_ quite expectably_, didn't realize what I really meant with all that talk, I decided to just tell her everything.

"So, what I meant was that…just as you didn't want to sit next to Richard anymore… Well… mom doesn't want to be close to dad right now," I finally said.

"Oh… I see," she said. She did? She looked okay with everything, and I was already hoping that maybe Helen's parents' divorce would make things easier for Liz to understand when her next words told me that she hadn't quite really understood my meaning, "That's why you didn't invite dad to come to the mall with us, right mom?" she asked smiling at me.

"Yeah… sort of. But that's not only just it. I mean, yes, that's why I didn't invite dad to come to the mall with us. But there's something else besides that. Actually, we won't be going ho…"

"Has he already, mom?" Liz asked, interrupting me again. And, in normal circumstances, I would be firm with her that she shouldn't interrupt anyone, especially adults and namely me. Recently Liz had developed the custom of interrupting everyone and I had talked to her about it several times already. But I just hadn't in me to worry about that at that moment.

"Has he what, baby?" I asked wondering what she had meant with her question.

"Has he said that he was sorry?"

"Uhhm… Yes, he did."

"Oh, that's good," she replied smiling, already focused on the final piece of her chocolate cake, before she asked, "So why didn't you ask him to come to the mall with us if he's sorry?"

"Baby, it's not that easy. What dad did… well, grown-ups sometimes do things that are very serious and hard to make up. And… It doesn't matter that he's sorry Elizabeth. I don't… I'm still angry with him," I answered.

"Course it matters mom," she immediately said with a very grave face and without any hint of her previous smile, "if he said he was sorry, then you forgave him, right? That's what good people do. That's what you said I had to do when Richard broke my clay."

Damn it. What should I tell her next? I should have thought things better before I started that conversation. And she was right. She was completely right. I _had_ told her that. And it had only been less than two weeks before. Liz had been terribly angry with a boy in her class because he had broken her terracotta basin. The boy kept saying that he hadn't meant to do it. But Liz had been sure that he had. Whereas their teacher said that she hadn't seen so she didn't know. Lizzie did another bowl on the following day, obviously. But, like Liz had said, "it just isn't the same." Not the clay bowl, nor my trust in Eric. And, all in all, my daughter was mad with her colleague and very sad to see her art destroyed. So, when I went to pick her up that day, I just explained to her that sometimes people did things without meaning it. Or that, in other times, they did mean it, but then they were sorry for their deeds afterwards. And if Richard had honestly told her that he was sorry, then she should forgive him and they should be friends again.

"I know, but that's different Liz. Dad…" And then I shut up because I really didn't know what to say next. 'Dad kissed an ex-girlfriend twice'? 'Dad didn't read your story yesterday'? 'Dad put his hand on another woman's knee'? Somehow, none of those options sounded okay to me, so I just… I shut up.

"You didn't forgive dad?" Lizzie asked with an awed face, and when I didn't answer her, she repeated her question. But, again, I didn't answer my daughter. Okay, call me coward and insensible. I deserve it. But I just… I really _couldn't _answer Liz.

And when she kept asking _when_ I would forgive him (not "if" but "when"), I just answered her exactly the same thing that I had answered Eric right before dawn that day. I told her that I didn't know. And then she insisted that I had to forgive him when we got home that night.

"We're spending the night at a hotel, baby. Not at home," I finally said.

She then, obviously, asked why, but I managed to not answer her that question, by saying that I had already packed her toothbrush and her pajamas and clothes for the next day. And when her morose face continued, I tried to excite her over the whole thing by saying that we would have fun, sleeping in a hotel, just us girls. I told her about letting her watch TV until 10pm, a whole hour after her week-night bedtime, and also about using the room-service. But when nothing resulted, I just asked and then I paid for the bill.

"What about Nike?" she questioned when we were leaving the restaurant. _Of course_ she would ask about the dog.

"Nike's okay. I left him in the garage before I went to pick you up at school," I answered. Nike usually spent his day in our garden if no one was at home or inside the house when we were. And then, at night, he slept at the garage because he was still a puppy. He'd be sleeping outside in a couple of months.

"But he needs water. And he needs food. And he needs me. And, and…" she immediately answered almost screaming at me in the middle of the mall. Liz was obviously over-exited. Or, I guess… she was mad. She had clearly hated the idea of sleeping in the hotel and she was using Nike as an excuse to go home.

"Elizabeth," I interrupted my daughter, "keep your voice down," I told her with my stern-mom tone of voice, and then I added with my normal mommy-voice, "You know he has both water and food in the garage. And dad's there. He'll take care of Nike."

"But Nike will miss _me,_ and I'll miss him, mom,_"_ she answered already calmer, before she asked me a question that I sure didn't know the answer, "how long until we go home again?"

I sighed and told her that I wasn't sure yet. But, obviously, Liz insisted and repeated that same question in three or four different ways. However, I stood by my "not sure" answer while I tried to get her inside a store (_any _store) and buy her something (_any_thing). But she just answered that she didn't want to stay in the mall, nor would she want to watch TV because she was sleepy. I looked at my watch and noticed that it was 8.30 already, so it was possible that she would be tired by then. We left the mall towards the parking lot.

We entered the car, buckled the seatbelts.

And then, I just didn't resist. Yes, I knew that it was wrong, but I did it. I picked my daughter's mind. And what was she thinking? Well, Liz was wondering what Eric might have done, or, more specifically, what would he have broken. She was afraid that he had broken the big TV in our living room, because it was big and I would be angry if he had broken it. And besides, in her head, it would justify why I wanted to go to a hotel and watch TV with her. But, worse than all that, she was mad at me, because she thought that I should just forgive Eric and be done with it. And, more than that, she was remembering when Helen cried in the school's bathroom because she missed her dad. I clearly saw in Lizzie's mind Helen's face telling Liz that her mom was always either sad and crying, or mad and yelling with her or her brother, and also that her dad was always bad-mouthing about her mother, because she didn't let him be with his kids. I then heard Liz sighing and then she thought that she hoped I wouldn't start being sad or angry all the time.

And that was when I blocked her mind and I just concentrated on driving us safely to a Holiday Inn that was close to the highway. Liz didn't say a single thing during the whole drive there. And neither did I.

When we got to the hotel, I turned the key off and I was glad when the car silenced. I looked back at my daughter and I realized that she was already sleeping. Damn it. Now I would probably have to wake her up, because I knew that I wouldn't be able to move her inside the hotel still sleeping. And Liz was always a grumpy whenever she would wake up so soon after falling asleep, as most kids were.

I grabbed my purse and I looked again at my cell-phone, hoping that there would be some contact from Eric there. But there wasn't. No missing call. No text message. Wasn't he missing me at all? Missing us?

I sighed and then I left my seat behind the wheel, and I then I moved towards the back door of the car. It was time to wake Liz so we would go to the hotel.

If Eric wasn't missing us, then, who knew? Maybe on the following day, I would call David's mom and tell her that we might be moving back to Cleveland. Brown's Bar & Grill was being managed by one of David's cousins but officially it belonged to Liz. And because Lizzie was underage and I was her mother, I could just go there and say that I wanted to work there again. Or even manage it. Yes, perhaps we _would_ go back to Tennessee.

I opened the back door and I saw Liz peacefully sleeping there. I sighed again. And then I wondered for the umpteenth time since the previous night, what the hell would I do with my life and where would I go from there.

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**So? What do you think about this chapter? I hope you've enjoyed reading it. Thank you again. Célia**

**From their various albums, Bon Jovi have had many outtakes, that is, songs that haven't made the record. "Better Think Twice" is one of those songs. It stars like this: **_**"I just want all those modern romances / Always being in love / When any girl smiled at me / I went wild at the touch of her clothes / Then bang it`s off before I know it / Poor broken hearted me / Better think twice before falling in love again / Better think twice before falling in love"**_


	42. In These Arms

**Yes, it took me a week to update again. And I'm sorry for that (but chapter 43 is almost done). And so, without further ado, here's chapter 42. Thank you for reading, Célia**

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**Eric "In These Arms"**

I was feeling awful that I had kissed Nat back, for a second time. And the worst part was that I was feeling awful because of both of them: Sookie _and _Nat. And I realized that I had seriously fucked up. With _both_ of them.

First of all, I should have told Nat absolutely everything about Sookie as soon as I had seen her again. Or hell, even _before_ she had come to Louisiana. Yes, I should have called Nat the minute Sookie decided she'd come and live with me in Shreveport. And if Natércia hadn't understood me or my feelings, then it would have been Nat's problem; not mine. But instead, I chose to tell her "just enough", while hoping that she'd leave soon.

Besides, and other than that, I should never, _ever_ have kissed Natércia. It had been just a couple of kisses, yes. And they hadn't meant a fucking thing to me. But I knew Sookie. And I was sure that for her, kissing another woman meant cheating. And if I was to put myself in her shoes… Damn it! I would kill any guy who _tried_ to kiss her. Hell! I would kill any guy who _thought _about_ trying _to kiss her. So, yeah, I had seriously fucked up. But when I drove back from the Continental Hotel that night, I just didn't know how much yet.

I did love Sookie. And I was completely sure of it. I loved her like I had never, _ever_, loved anyone. And I was truly sorry that I had kissed Natércia. Sookie deserved way more from me and I had, like I said before, seriously fucked up. But the thing was that the kisses hadn't meant a bloody thing; I had only reacted to Nat the way I had been reacting for centuries. I had fallen into our regular pattern. And I swear, kissing her back had only been an impulse; a natural feeling that existed because of way too many nights passed that way.

And, of course, the blood also mattered.

Nat had a habit of sometimes piercing my tongue or my lips when we were fucking. And even though she only did it once or twice every four or five decades, it _was _an 8-centuries old habit so, yes, there _was_ a connection between us there … What the fuck can I say, but admit it? Yes, Nat was the one who kept making us have those small exchanges of a couple of drops of blood but I… I've always liked it too. I was a vampire for fuck's sake, and Nat was a fucking sexy vampire as well, and the taste or smell of blood had always turned us on… So I kept letting her do it. And I had never minded it because I trusted her just as she trusted me. So yeah, it had never bothered me. _At all._ Until now. Because now I had Sookie. Or, at least, I hoped that I _still _had Sookie.

And as I was driving back home, I thought about all that had happened that night. And I could understand why Nat hadn't liked to hear about Sookie. I had always seen Nat as a priority in my life, and now I was choosing a _human_ over her. Besides, the fact that we had that blood connection, and that we had been together for so long, would obviously make Natércia think that she had some claim over me. But she hadn't. Or rather, she was important to me, because she was my friend and we had gone through too much shit together over the years. But that was it. That was _only _it. Yes, I did love Nat. But I was sure that I didn't love her the way I loved Sookie. Besides, as my friend, and one who could feel my emotions, Nat would have to understand that I was different from before. I wasn't the same man that I had once been.

As soon as I arrived home, I went and I checked Lizzie's room, as I always did (she was sleeping quietly), before I went to my bedroom upstairs. Sookie was also sleeping when I slowly woke her up. I wanted nothing more than to just take a shower and then get under the bed sheets, hug Sookie and just feel her warm body next to me. But I knew that I couldn't. Before we did that (_if _we did that), I had to come clean and just confess everything.

And that was what I did. I told her about Nat's attack, as well as Natércia's attempt to have sex with me. And at my answer, Sookie gasped and moved slightly away from me. And at each sentence we'd say, she would move a little farther from me. And then she deeply sighed before she asked me if I was going to leave her. I immediately told her that I would never leave her, right before she asked me if I had had sex with Nat. And I truthfully told her that I hadn't.

And Sookie immediately relaxed. But I knew that even though Natércia and I hadn't had sex, we _had_ kissed. And I needed to tell Sookie that. She deserved the truth. And so, ashamed of my behavior and hating what I had done, I just admitted to it. I told her that Nat had kissed me, and that I had kissed her back twice.

And just like she had done before, Sookie gasped again and moved even further from me. I was full of remorse, and Sookie's reaction was killing me, so I just kept telling her that I loved her and that she was the most important thing to me in the whole world. I told her that I was sorry and that if I could, I would go back in time and do everything differently.

But it wasn't enough and she asked me to leave. I immediately time-travelled more than a decade into our past, when Sookie said that she needed space from me right before she moved to Tennessee. I wanted do scream at her, and tell her that I wouldn't leave. I wanted to grab Sookie and shake her and beg her for forgiveness until she _would_ forgive me. I wanted to yell that she belonged to me, just as I belonged to her.

But I did no such thing. And instead, I just left.

I checked Lizzie again, but that time, while I looked at her sleeping, I couldn't stop myself from wondering if I would lose both Sookie and Liz because of my stupidity. Lizzie had become so important to me, that I knew that I would insist with Sookie for the right to keep spending time with my Elizabeth even if Sookie wouldn't want to be with me anymore. But suddenly, I realized that I didn't want to even _think_ about the hypothesis of losing both of them, so I just left Lizzie's room and went downstairs, to my basement's bedroom.

I took a shower until _way _past dawn while I cleaned the blood from both my wounds and my tears. Because it was already day time, when I left the bathroom, I almost immediately laid on my bed and I died for the day, while hoping that Sookie would talk to me and be able to forgive me on the following night. However, those hopes didn't come true because when I woke up, I found myself alone. They weren't at the house.

I immediately dressed and I went upstairs, looking for a note from Sookie. But I found nothing of the sort. What I did find, was emptiness where some of Sookie's things had been until that morning. I ran to Lizzie's and I found the same thing: no toothbrush, no favorite brown boots, no Teddy (Liz always slept hugging a Teddy Bear that her biologic father had given her when she was still a baby), no drawing book and no crayons. And there were also missing a few of Lizzie's preferred books.

And then, I just… screamed. I actually screamed almost in pain. No. Not _almost. _I screamed in pain because Sookie wasn't there and she had taken Liz with her. And I had probably lost them. But not one minute after it, I heard my cell-phone ringing in my basement room, so I immediately ran there, in hopes that it was Sookie calling me. But it wasn't.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Pam immediately asked when I clicked on the green button to accept her call. She had probably felt my pain when I realized that Sookie had packed some of her and Lizzie's things and had left me.

"I am," I managed to whisper.

"What happened? Where are you? Are you at home? Eric?" Pam asked at once. Yes, she _had _felt me and she was worried about me.

"It's Sookie," I said.

"What happened? Did she hurt you somehow? Is she okay?"

I sat on my bed and I curved my back while I put my elbow on my knee, so I could better support my own head. It was as if I had lost all of my strength. I then took a useless deep breath and I told Pam that I had just woken up, and realized that Sookie wasn't there. My child didn't understood why that would make me feel that way, so I told her that Sookie had taken some of her clothes with her, as well as Lizzie's. And that was when Pam started asking me question after question.

Firstly, she tried to make sure that I was really okay, and that the pain she had felt through our Maker/Child bond had "only" been an emotional pain. And when she was sure that I wasn't injured or bleeding somewhere, she started questioning me about why would Sookie leave. And I answered her everything between several unnecessary sights and deep breathes. I told Pam everything about Nat and what had happened on the two previous nights, and also about my talk with Sookie that ended with her plea for me to sleep downstairs.

Pam then speculated that maybe Sookie was only late and that she'd come home that night. But I told her, _again_, about the clothes she had taken with her. But more important than the clothes, it had been Lizzie's Teddy Bear and her much-loved crayons. If Sookie had taken those things, it meant that they weren't coming back that night. And so, _I _had to go to them.

I immediately told Pam that I had to end that phone call because I needed to speak to Sookie, and I was going to try her cell right at that very moment. However, Pam proceeded to try to convince me to wait one more night. I insisted that I wouldn't, that I _couldn't_, wait another night. But she said that I should give Sookie time.

"Sookie's not that same twenty-something girl that ran away 13 years ago Eric," Pam said to me, "she's a woman and she has responsibilities now. She has Lizzie, and she won't run away with a child. Even if you two would never be together again, I know that Sookie wouldn't keep Liz away from you. Hell, she wouldn't even keep her away from me. We're family now, Eric."

"But she took Lizzie's four favorite books too," I stubbornly answered. And she _had_. Sookie had taken Margaret Wise Brown's "Goodnight Moon", and "Pat the Bunny" and "Pinkalicious", as well as "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". And those were exactly the four books that Liz kept asking for us to read over and over again. We were always trying to find new stories and new books for her, but Lizzie loved those four the most. And just the thought that I might never read to her ever again terrified me. So why would Pam tell me that I shouldn't go after Sookie when all my body was screaming at me to just forget Pam's advice and run after my family?

"I'm not saying that she didn't leave. If she took all those things, then she probably did. But _if_ she did, I'd bet that it will only be for one night or two. And you should give her time to clear her mind and think calmly about everything that you've told me," Pam answered.

"Pam, I love her," I said. It was the first time that I was openly telling Pam that I loved Sookie. Pam knew of my feelings, of course. For one, they were evident whenever I was close to Sookie. And secondly, Pam could also feel it. So there was no need for me to tell Pam that. But somehow, saying it out loud, to someone else, almost validated my feelings, and I just felt the need to say those words to Pam.

"I know, Eric. But I'm guessing that she doesn't want to see your face at the moment. If she did, she'd be there. So if she went away, you must respect her feelings. Eric, for her a kiss is cheating as well. And you hurt her when you kissed Natércia."

"I didn't mean to. And Sookie must see things that way," I almost screamed at the phone. And then, my tone of voice dropped immediately when I whispered, "Sookie _must_ forgive me."

"Both Bill and David cheated on her and…"

"I am not like them," I said interrupting Pam, almost screaming again.

"I know. And Sookie does too. You just have to give her some time to think, Eric. I really think that you shouldn't try to go after her, nor even call her. Let her be, and she will come back as soon as she realizes that you both love each other," she answered. And when I didn't reply to her, Pam added, "Listen, if tomorrow, when you wake up, she hadn't called nor gone back home, _then_ you call her. But now… just give her tonight. I'm sure she'll make the correct decision."

And you know something? I guess that the lack of strength that I had felt before was still in me, because I even lacked the strength to keep arguing with my own child over the telephone. So I just told Pam that I would give Sookie 24 hours before I went after her and that I would stay the whole night at home, hoping for Sookie to come back.

And that was when Pam asked me if I thought that Natércia might go after Sookie. I had wondered about it too. But I knew that Nat wouldn't try to harm Sookie. I was sure that Natércia didn't have anything against Sookie, only against me. The family of an alcoholic wouldn't go to the liquor store and destroy all bottles there. Instead, they'd try to convince him to stop drinking. And I knew that Nat's take on my feelings for Sookie were just as similar.

"No," I answered Pam, "I'm sure Nat won't harm either Sookie or Liz. Well, at least not yet. But I'll have to talk to Nat soon, and _then _she might. But not for the time being."

"Will you meet Natércia tonight?"

"No. I'll give her until tomorrow night to calm down, just as you suggested that I do with Sookie. We must all calm ourselves," I said.

And after a few more minutes into our conversation, we ended the phone call after I promised Pam that I didn't need her there at home, with me. I then left my depressing basement bedroom, and I went upstairs. I left the house and I called for Nike, who was in the garage. I checked that he still had food and water in his bowls and then I did something against the rules (because Nike wasn't allowed to sleep inside the house) when I brought him inside with me. I then sat on our living room couch, with Nike on my lap (thank the Gods he was there), and I stared at a switched-off television for the next three or four hours. My only movements were those to check _over and over again _if my cell-phone had any message from Sookie.

And I just sat there, thinking. And I thought about the time when I didn't call her (for months) after Victor's coup. And also about when I let her leave the hospital alone after Compton told her about Lorena and Sophie-Ann. And I thought about all those other times when I left Sookie alone. And how, one way or the other, she had always come back to me. I remembered Sookie's phone-call from Cleveland the night after I had come back to Shreveport after warning her about the fairies. She had asked me to stay away, but then she had called me and had told me that she loved me. And eventually she had asked me to go back to her, which could be seen as her coming back to me, as well. And I could only hope that Pam was right and that Sookie would come back one more time. And bring Liz with her.

And then, all of a sudden, I heard it.

I immediately got up, I put a sleeping Nike on the floor, and I ran to the front door, because I had heard a car parking in our driveway. And as soon as I got to the door, I saw that it was Sookie's car. I sprinted to her and I opened her car door without even a second thought. But then, of course, I scared her because I had run there in my vampire speed and she hadn't even realized that I was there yet.

"Jesus Christ," she whispered as soon as she noticed that it was I that was there, "you scared me to death. What if I had screamed and Liz had woken up with her mom yelling for help? Or what if I had had a freaking heart attack? What then, Eric? What then? What would you have done if I had had a heart attack? What would you have done?" she said angrily, even though she was still whispering.

"I'm sorry," I whispered back at her. And I _was_ sorry that I had scared her. Sookie had told me dozens of times before to not be that quick around her, but somehow I was always forgetting it. But at that moment, when I said that I was sorry, I didn't _only _mean that I regretted frightening her. I was telling her, all over again, that I was sorry for everything that I had done. And you know what? I was willing to bet that when she asked me what I would have done if she had had a heart attack, she was also asking me what I would have done if she hadn't come back. And so, I answered her as truthfully as I could when I added a second later, "I can't even imagine what I would have done without you, Sookie."

She then just stayed there, still sitting in the car, while I was standing next to the opened door, for a minute or two, until she asked me if I minded grabbing Liz and taking her inside. I wanted to start jumping up and down and giggling like a child, because of her question. Did I mind? I was fucking ecstatic that she had said it. And, without being able to hide my smile (even though Sookie was definitely _not _smiling… _yet_, I silently, and hopefully, added in my mind), I just went to the back of the car and I freed Lizzie from her car-seat and carried her inside while Sookie took a small suitcase and a big bag from the trunk of the car. I held on to Liz with my right arm, and I grabbed the bag with my left at the same time as Sookie brought the suitcase with her. We both immediately dropped the bag and the suitcase and we went upstairs towards Lizzie's room, where we left Liz sleeping peacefully.

When we left Lizzie's bedroom, Sookie walked towards the upstairs room and I followed her. But only until its door, because I then stopped, just as I would if I was on the door of a house that belonged to a human.

But suddenly Sookie realized where I was and she told me to get inside because we needed to talk. And that was what I did, right before we both sat on the bed.

I wanted to ask her where she had been and why she had taken the clothes with her. I wanted to grab her to prevent her from leaving again and taking Liz with her. I wanted to beg for her forgiveness and ask what I could do to start my atonement. I wanted for her to tell me if she would forgive me, or if she would run away again. But above everything else, I wanted to know if she still loved me. But, like the insecure teenager Sookie brought out in me, I didn't say a thing and I stood still. And I just waited for her to start talking. And eventually, she did.

"I'm not sure if I can forgive you, Eric. And even if I could forgive you, I don't know if I would be able to not resent you," she said and then she stopped talking. And I just didn't know what to answer her because I just didn't understand what she had meant. Did that mean that she would give me another chance? Or not? And why had she left earlier that night? Why had she taken clothes with her? It could only mean that she hadn't forgiven me and that she had intended to leave me. But then, why did she come back?

"Oh," I mumbled. Yes, I really didn't know what to answer her.

"And I think that to forgive you but to keep resenting you would be even worse than if we were to just end everything between us."

And I _still _didn't know what to say. Fuck! Was I stupid or what? I was watching my whole life disappearing in front of me and I couldn't even say a fucking word? I wanted to yell at Sookie that she _had_ to give us another chance. She had to give _me _another chance. But I just couldn't. And so, I mumbled that same "oh" a second time.

"And I want to ask you a favor…" she whispered.

"Anything."

"Liz will be confused when she wakes tomorrow. I told her that we were staying at a hotel."

"You did?" I asked and she nodded. So she _had _intended to stay away. I wondered again why she had changed her mind. Why had she come back home? Don't get me wrong, that had been my wish the whole fucking night since I had woken up alone. But I was curious about her reasoning. "Why did you come back?"

"I was about to wake Liz so we could check in the hotel when I realized that it wasn't fair to make her leave her house that way. And you _are _her father now, so if or when we leave this house, she's entitled to say goodbye to you."

Fuck! Say goodbye to me? I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't even want to fucking _think_ about it. "What's the favor?"

She sighted and then she said, "I'd appreciate it if we didn't see you tomorrow night." What? Was she serious? She had just said that I was Lizzie's father and now she was saying that she didn't want to see me? Luckily she had said "tomorrow". But I wondered if "tomorrow" would turn into next week, next month or even next couple of years. I was already plotting my next way to say how sorry I was when she continued talking, "I still need some time to think about everything Eric, so I was thinking that maybe you could sleep somewhere else? Or just... don't come up before Liz is asleep and I'm in my room…?"

And you know something? Even though it was impossible, I felt my heart stop beating and my lungs missing oxygen. It was as if I was dying all over again. She didn't want to _see me_? Then how would I ever manage to make her forgive me? Once again, I wanted to grab her and shake her and shout at her until everything was alright between us again. But instead I just nodded and I left her room after she whispered a very low "thank you".

And even though it was sill just a little over 11pm, I went to my basement room and I sat on my bed while I called Pam. I told her that Sookie had come back home with Liz, but that she had asked me to stay away for at least another night. And Pam, again, told me to give that time to Sookie before we ended our phone call. I then took my clothes off and I laid on my bed, feeling both sorry for myself and mad at myself at the same time, until dawn.

On the next night, I woke up and I could immediately hear Liz playing with Nike upstairs. I dressed but then I stayed in my basement bedroom and I focused on the sounds that I could hear from above me. And ten or fifteen minutes after that, I heard Sookie telling Lizzie that she should go and put Nike in the garage because it was night already, to which Liz just answered by asking her mother where I was if it was night already.

"He's… He's away working," Sookie answered.

"But is dad coming home tonight?"

"Why are you asking that _again_? I've already told you that your dad won't be here tonight."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Liz, we've talked about it already. And I still remember telling you that I don't know when your dad is coming home again. He has work to do away from here, and it might take some time until he comes back. You know that I'm sort of mad at your dad, so we decided that he should stay away, working, for a few days. " Sookie bluntly lied to Liz. I wanted to run upstairs and tell Lizzie that I _was_ there with them and that I _wanted_ to stay there with them for-fucking-ever.

But I didn't.

And I actually understood why Sookie was lying. No need to worry Liz about us before Sookie and I talked things through. I still remembered when Lizzie arrived home distressed because of what had happened between Helen's parents. And I obviously didn't want to upset my daughter before Sookie definitely said that she was done with me. I questioned myself if "sort of mad" meant that she was more inclined to forgive me or not. And I wondered how long "a few days" meant.

"That sucks," Liz immediately answered her mother with a harsh tone. I immediately wondered where she had heard that expression. Had it been Pam? Or maybe at school? Or the TV, perhaps?

And apparently, Sookie thought the same thing because she immediately asked, "Who taught you to say that?" And after a couple of seconds of silence, she added, with a stern tone voice, "Liz, I've told you. Don't you raise your shoulders and roll your eyes at me. I am your mother and I deserve your respect."

"I wanna know when dad will come home," Lizzie said with a demanding voice tone that I was sure was testing Sookie's patience, before she added, "When?"

"Liz, you go and you put Nike in the garage immediately. And then you'll go to your room. No TV for you tonight."

"I didn't want to watch the stupid TV tonight anyway," Liz said with the same challenging tone to her mother. I then heard the front door opening and closing and I guessed that Liz was _at least_ respecting her mother and taking Nike to the garage.

But what was happening with my baby girl? She sounded more like a rebellious teenager than my sweet child. Was it my absence already? Was Liz afraid that Sookie and I would separate and was this why she was behaving this way? It pained me that what I had done was hurting not only Sookie but Liz as well. And I could only feel a desire to just scream my frustration into a big roar. But instead, I stood quietly in my bedroom.

Five minutes later, I heard the front door again and then Sookie told Liz to go brush her teeth and put her pajamas on because she was going to bed earlier that night because she had misbehaved towards her. Liz answered that she hadn't and that it an unfair punishment, but still she went upstairs with Sookie going after her.

A little over an hour later, I could hear steps again in the kitchen, as well as the water running in the sink and the fridge's door opening and closing for a while, before I heard Sookie's steps on the stairs again. She was going to the bedroom.

I took that as my cue to leave the basement and I went upstairs. I wanted to go to the bedroom's floor, but I decided that I'd stay in the living room for at least another hour before venturing and trying to at least catch a glance of both Liz and Sookie. But instead, it took me four hours to muster the courage to go upstairs.

When I entered the bedroom's hall, I passed through Sookie's bedroom and I saw her sleeping peacefully because the door wasn't completely closed. I wanted to go inside and hug her, but I didn't have it in me because… well, because I was afraid of her reaction if she was to wake up and see me there. And so I kept walking and I went to Lizzie's room. I stood there watching her sleep for half an hour before I couldn't stand anymore. Being so close to her and not knowing when I would play with my daughter again was too much and so I left her room to go to the basement again.

But then, when I was passing again through Sookie's bedroom (that had been _our _bedroom until recently), I heard her whispering my name. I immediately went towards the door, wondering if she was saying my name in her sleep… when a very awake Sookie told me to get in. Almost timidly, I went into the bedroom and I sat by her, on the bed, next to the bedside table.

"Nike slept in the living room last night," she whispered. And I almost wanted to laugh. From all the subjects that we had to talk about that night, Sookie had started with Nike. Like mother, like daughter, I guess.

"Yeah," I answered, still as speechless as on the previous night.

"Why?"

There was an evident trail of dried tears in her face and I immediately felt that I wanted to punch myself for what I had done. "I didn't want to be alone last night. Nor ever again," I said.

Sookie just sat there without talking for a couple of minutes, before she whispered: "Listen, I've asked before, but I must be sure of it. And, for the love of God, don't lie to me. Just tell me the truth: did you have sex with Natércia?"

"I did not. I swear that I did not," I said.

"But did you want to?"

It took me a few seconds, but then I started answering her, whispering my sorrow to her, "For a minute or two, I guess. Until I realized that I only want you that way, not her. But Nat and I… We have been together for too long, Sookie. My body reacted to hers, like it had reacted thousands of nights before. But as soon as I got my mind together, I stopped and I regretted it immediately."

"Do you… Do you think that you'll kiss her again?" she asked. And then, almost as an after-though, "Or anyone else for that matter?"

"No. I know that I won't," I immediately said. And I was completely sure of it.

Sookie looked at me and then she whispered, "For me a kiss is cheating as well, you know?"

"I do. And I'm sorry for what I did."

"I'm glad you told me the truth," she said.

"I had to be honest with you."

"If I had discovered it from someone else, I would never even consider giving us a second chance. I would have left and never come back."

"I only wish that there hadn't been anything to tell," I said.

Sookie then grabbed my hand and I felt hope growing inside of me, just because her hands were touching me. "Are you sure you still want me?" she asked.

"I'll always want you," I answered truthfully.

"It didn't look like it two nights ago. The way you behaved…" she then stopped talking as if the mere thought pained her. But… what was she talking about? I knew that it had to be something that had happened on the night when I first introduced Nat to Sookie and Liz. Oh… It must have been the reason why she had moved her face so I had only kissed her cheek and not her mouth. But I really hadn't noticed anything that night. And I still didn't. But if she wanted to talk about it, then we would. I would do anything that she wanted. Anything. And the fact that she was still holding my hand meant the world to me.

"What do you mean?"

"You… you…" Sookie took a deep breath and then she continued, "you told her about my blood and you touched her leg. In front of me."

I touched Nat? If I did, I hadn't paid attention to it. Like the kisses, it had probably only been some sort of muscle memory or something. But I understood her point about the blood, and I addressed it, "Sookie, she wanted me to taste a donor at the hotel. So I only explained to her that I wouldn't drink from anyone else other than you because I only craved _your_ blood while everyone else's bloods seemed tasteless to me."

"Ohh…" She said and then she kept her silence for another minute, until she quickly asked: "Is that why you want me? Because you crave my blood?"

"No. I want you because I love _you_. Your blood is amazing, yes. But so is your smile, and the way you're a good mother, and your blond hair, and your telepathy, and your breasts, and your good-nature, and the way you kiss and so many other things. And I love all of that because I love _you,_ Sookie," I answered. And I saw her blush a little bit when I talked about her breasts. But it _was_ true. They _were_ amazing. But, like I had said, so was the rest of her.

"Ohh…" she said again.

"As far as touching Nat… I don't know. And I'm sorry but I did not even realize it. I behaved with her just as I had done for many, many nights. But I understand now how that might have hurt you. And I can only promise you that it won't happen again. Not with her, not with anyone else."

"Okay," she answered. Up until then, her hands were only grabbing one of my hands, but at that moment she intertwined her fingers into mine. "Okay?" I asked hopefully.

She nodded at me and then she said, "But don't you ever do that again Eric! You disrespected me and you hurt me. You actually made me feel like I didn't matter at all. And on top of that, you kissed her."

"It will not happen again."

"I was very afraid that we weren't, or wouldn't or…," she paused to take a deep breath and then she continued, "I was very afraid that I would lose _us_. Actually, I still am."

"Me too." And I was. I had been since she had asked me to sleep downstairs two nights before.

"I'm terrified of losing you Eric."

"When I woke up yesterday, and neither you nor Liz were here… Sookie, it scared me like nothing before. And have been in too many wars in my life, already. But that moment when I realized that my family had packed and left… it was most terrifying moment of my life."

"Why… Why didn't you introduce me to her as your wife?"

"Because I know that you don't like when I call you that. You probably wouldn't deny it then and there, in front of another vampire, but you'd want to."

"I guess that… Well, it will probably take some time for me to completely forget what happened, Eric. And you must understand that this is a _once-in-a-life-time_ thing. I won't forgive you again. This is your second chance, but believe me, there won't be a third."

"So you'll forgive me?" I asked, suddenly _full_ of hope.

"I have to," she said while she slightly raised her shoulders as if she was saying "I have no other option".

"I love you," I told her. And I did.

"And I love you," she answered, before she added, whispering, "Oh God! I was so afraid that you would want her instead of me. I want us to be us again."

And then… she hugged me. She hugged me and we stayed like that for a few moments.

And I… I felt such a relief. She was _hugging_ me. She was back in my arms. She had come back home. And I… I felt like I would be able to conquer the world, if I wanted, because of Sookie. Because Sookie had come back home. To me. To my arms, where she belonged.

And then I just hugged her back with as much strength as I could, without hurting her, of course. "I'm really so sorry that I kissed her back, Sookie. I swear that it didn't mean a thing to me. It felt wrong. I just want to kiss you and no one else. You're my wife," I said. And for what was probably the first time ever, she didn't answer me that our marriage wasn't real. She just stood there, hugging me and trying to stop the tears that had showed up.

A few minutes later, when she calmed down, she asked, "Will Natércia leave now?"

Well, that was a good question. I just didn't know its answer. I guess, with Nat, you never knew. She might be so pissed at me that she'd leave without a single word and she could be on her way to Canada at that precise moment. Or she might also pretend that nothing had happened at all and just meet me at one of my bars without speaking about our fight. Or, hell, she might even attack me, all of a sudden. Like I said, with Natércia, it could go either way.

"I don't know. I had intended to call her tonight, but I'll call her tomorrow and ask her to meet me so we can talk. By then, she'll have already had yesterday and tonight to think about what I told her, and calm down," I said.

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her the truth. I told her how much you mean to me and that you were my wife," I answered. And for a second time, she didn't reply that we weren't married and that "giving silverware does not constitute a marriage", as she always said. I wondered if Nat's visit would be the catalyst that would make Sookie accept the validity of our marriage.

"So, you'll meet her tomorrow?" she asked me, whispering.

"I'll call her as soon as I'll wake up and I'll see if we can meet tomorrow night, if she hasn't left for Canada yet," I said.

"Where will you meet her?"

"I don't know yet. I'll suggest here, perhaps. But I want you and Liz to spend the night at your brother's. He's back from his honey moon, right?" She nodded with an inquiring air on her face, so I explained, "I live here and she can enter this house. I'd feel better if you were somewhere else when I am talking to Nat... You know, just in case," Sookie kept looking at me with that same curious air on her face. I hoped she wasn't thinking that I wanted her gone because I wanted to fuck Natércia, and so I added, "I don't want either of you here because she might want to hurt you. I don't think that she will, but I'm not willing to take that chance. You and Liz are way too important for me to risk it. So, tell me, do you think you can stay in Bon Temps?"

"Yes, of course. We can stay at Jason's. But Eric, please don't fight her. We can move and run away if we have to. But don't fight her. I couldn't stand it if something happened to you."

Run away? I would never run from anything in my life. I had never run away before and I certainly would not start then. But why would Sookie think that we should run? She was seconds away from crying again and I had to prevent that, so I said, "Hey, hey. Stop that. Don't cry, please. And why are you saying that? She's my friend. We won't fight."

"You already did," she whispered.

"Yes, but it was just a disagreement between friends. We would never kill each other. I know it's a strange concept to you but Nat's really my oldest friend," I answered.

"Pam said that you've fought before, when you met her. And that Natércia won."

"But that was before we were friends. Sookie, I'll only talk to her, and explain again that you're my family now. And I'll tell her that she must accept your role in my life, or else, there won't be any place for _her _in my life. But one way or another, I have to talk to her. I can't let things be the way I left them two nights ago," I answered putting my arms around Sookie again. She felt so good in my arms.

And then, a few minutes later, I took off my shoes and my jeans and I lay in bed, hugging Sookie, while she hugged me back. And we stayed like that, in stillness and quietude, for two more hours. And I had never felt more grateful in my entire life.

I was thinking about how glad I was that I still had my family when Sookie (who I thought had already fallen asleep by then), broke the silence when she told me that she was sorry. But why would Sookie be sorry? _I _had been the one who had kissed another woman. Sookie had nothing to be sorry for. So I obviously asked her why.

"Because I complicated your life," she whispered. _She_ had complicated my life? I almost felt like laughing at her. And if we hadn't had such a stressful couple of nights already, I think that I _would_ have.

"I can handle it _and_ you're worth everything," I said, smiling at her. Sookie had been a simple waitress in a small town before the vampires had entered her life. _We_ had been the ones who set hurdles on her life… On the other hand, she had only brightened mine. I heard a sniffle from her and I knew I had to make it better. I had to somehow turn off her worries, and so I said, "Besides, I complicated your life as well, didn't I?" Her face left my chest and she looked at me, while I added, "Do you remember the maenad? How her attack on you was a message to me?"

She almost smiled and then she whispered, "I still have the scars on my back."

"And I love those little scars. I think they're sexy as hell," I answered. And then I saw her mouth forming the smile I was looking for. I was on the right path, so I insisted, "And do you remember Jackson? When in the middle of dozens of vampires, _you,_ a human, were staked?"

"And you didn't leave me alone with all those people, despite the fact that you weren't even supposed to be there. You stayed with me," she said almost smiling again.

"I could never leave you," I answered honestly.

"And then we went to Russell's and you even took me up the stairs Rhett Butler style," she replied, sounding less sad and more herself.

"I _did_ carry you up the stairs Rhett Butler style."

"And all that time I actually worried more that I would forget to call you by your bogus-name and that all those vampires would recognize you, than about my own wound. You really didn't look like a Leif to me," she said.

"And there you where: with a piece of wood stuck into you, but still worrying about my fake name. So, you see, I complicated your life too," she nodded to me. And there it was. A proper smile. But I wanted an even bigger smile from her, so I continued, "And let's not forget Dallas… You infiltrated the Fellowship of the Sun headquarters with one of them as your fake boyfriend," I added.

She finally gave me her big smile and said in a lighter voice, "That's right. I hated that you made me go there to find a missing vampire that I didn't care about. I _really_ hated you back then."

I hugged her even closer to me. "You loved me already back then. You lusted for me since the first night we met when you went to Fangtasia asking about those dead fangbangers," I said, trying to bring back the playfulness between us.

"I did not," she said trying to sound insulted by my words.

"You did to," I insisted. Her eyes' expression was also lighter now. And I felt immediately better because _she_ was feeling better.

She looked at me, smiled and said again in a mock-anger kind of way, "I did not."

"You ached for me ever since that first night you saw me," I replied.

"Eric Northman! I did not," she said with the same pretending-to-be-insulted tone.

"Then why did you kiss me after the Fellowship's attack during the party?" I teased her.

"I didn't kiss you. I was with Bill," she said looking at me. When I raised my eyebrow at her, she added, "_You_ kissed me."

And she was right. I _had_ kissed her. I had grabbed her face with both my hands after she had sucked a bullet from my chest and I _had_ kissed her. But she had let me do it. She hadn't moved away from me, not a millimeter. And she had enjoyed my kiss. I had known it then, and I knew it now. And I also knew what to answer her at that point, "But you _liked _my kiss that night, even though you were still with Bill at the time."

I was going into some dangerous territory there, because I was talking about kissing one person when you're committed to another. But I saw it as an opportunity to tell her again that a kiss could either mean everything or nothing at all, depending on who you were kissing. She then changed her big smile, for a shy smile and whispered in a very timid and low voice, "I did like it."

"Can I kiss you now?" I asked with anticipation. And then, even before she answered me, _she_ kissed me.

Minutes later, her sleep wear and panties were already on the floor next to my t-shirt and my boxers. And then we just laid there, naked, while we kept touching and kissing for a while. Sookie was extremely soft, tender and fragile. And especially now, after kissing and then fighting Natércia two nights before, I knew that I had to be careful with Sookie. And when I slowly entered her, and I felt her so hot and tight around me, I was absolutely sure that Sookie was the one I _really_ wanted.

Being with Natércia… Having sex with her… It had been great, for so many years. Hell, centuries for that matter. Just as Pam was great and several other vampires, whom I had been with sexually in the past, had been great. But they were all cold. And even the humans I had fucked during my whole existence, they were all cold to me. Yes, even those humans with their warm blood, they were cold too; because they didn't mean a fucking thing to me. And at that moment, feeling my wife… warm, tight and wet, I felt that I was in Heaven. I belonged with her.

And you know what? In that same second, I had a feeling that everything was okay in the world, because Sookie was there with me. And if she had had it in her to forgive me, then we would be okay and if we were okay, then nothing else really mattered to me.

Moments later, she was whispering "faster Eric" over and over again, but I just kept my pace and I continued thrusting into her deeply, but slowly. I kissed her lips and her neck as if I was a dying man and she was my salvation. And I paid my usual homage to her breasts but I touched them tenderly that night. And I felt, deep down inside me, that she meant everything to me.

Her hands were still in my lower back urging me to speed my thrusts but I really needed to make love to her that night, not fuck her. A few minutes later she asked me to bite her. But I didn't. I _couldn't_. For me, Sookie meant so much more than her blood. She was my best friend, my family, my life. She had brought me back from the dead, not because of her blood, but because of my love for her. And so, instead of biting her, I just whispered in her ear "I love you Sookie Stackhouse" and she started almost quivering and convulsing, and be both came together.

Just seconds later, I smelled her tears bellow me.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked and tried to leave from above her.

But she prevented me, because she kept grabbing me while she said, "No. No. Stay there. I love to feel you on top of me."

"So why are you crying? Tell me, did I hurt you?"

She moved her head as if telling me no and then she answered, "I'm just happy that you love me."

"How could I not?"

Sookie then moved her arms back to my neck and made me drop my head towards her, so we could kiss. And that was what we did for a while. But then, she stopped our kisses to ask me, "Why didn't you bite me?"

I hoped that she wasn't feeling insecure about it, like two nights before when I had woken up with both her and Liz in my basement bedroom. But I feared that she might be thinking that I hadn't bitten her because I didn't love her. When in reality, it was quite the opposite! I hadn't bitten her because I loved her too much.

"Because tonight, I just wanted you and not your blood," I answered.

We stayed like that for a few moments but then we went to the bathroom and we showered. And even though we were showering together, we did it quickly with just a couple of kisses exchanged between us, because it was almost dawn.

A few minutes later, we were back on the bed and we laid there, while I spooned her. And that was when I heard her telling me that she loved me too. I tried to tell her the same, or at least, kiss her again, but the dawn's pull was too strong already and I couldn't move or say anything anymore. I could, however, still hear her next words, "But if you even _touch_ Natércia again, let alone kiss her one more time, I swear to God that I will never forgive you Eric. And I give you my word, if you do, you won't see me or Liz _ever again_."

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**So? Any thoughts about the chapter? Did Sookie made him "suffer" enough? Was it too quick? Would **_**you **_**forgive a couple of kisses? And what about the sex scene? It was only the third time I wrote sexy-stuff…! :) I really hope that you've enjoyed the chapter. And thank you for reading. Célia**

"**In These Arms" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan and Richie Sambora. It was released in 1993 as the third single from the band's 1992 album "Keep the Faith". The chorus goes this way: **_**"I'd hold you, I'd need you / I'd get down on my knees for you / And make everything alright / If you were in these arms / I'd love you, I'd please you / I'd tell you that I'd never leave you / And love you 'til the end of time / If you were in these arms tonight"**_


	43. Fear

**Hi! So, most of you thought that Sookie was right when she forgave Eric, though I still received a review that suggested me to **_**"throw Sookie to the water fairies and let them chew on her"**_** :) Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter, a Sookie's POV. And please review if you can. And, as usual, the disclaimer: not my characters, obviously. And besides, I have to publicly thank Charhamblin's help for betaing this story. She's awesome! :) And so, without further delay, here's chapter 43. Thank you for reading. Célia**

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**Sookie "Fear"**

The first time I saw Eric Northman, I could only think that he was dangerous, _extremely_ attractive, and also that he exuded power and sensuality. _Every_one, _every_where, would think the same. Of course, then, he… well, he _talked_, and I changed my mind about him, and I started thinking of Eric as a self-absorbing, narcissist prick. But soon I started to notice how he would, _many times_, go out of his way to help me whenever I needed. And as soon as I recognized that the ghastly and egotistic aspect of him was just a hood under which the true Eric Northman would hide, then I quickly fell in love with him. But, even when he was just the obnoxious Sheriff of Area 5, I trusted him for some unknown reason. I still remember when he went with me to a party to help me find out who had killed Merlotte's cook, Lafayette Reynolds. And that night, on the drive there, Eric bluntly asked me if I trusted him. And when I answered that I did, he said that it was crazy to trust him. But at that time, I was absolutely sure that I _did _trust him. And that I _always_ would.

However, he went and kissed another woman. A supposedly "old friend". The same "old friend" that he had never told me about before. And when I was told about those kisses… Well, I just didn't know if I would ever be able to forgive and forget what had happened. I guess that Eric was paying the price for both Bill's and David's infidelity. But forgiving him… it was just… _too_ _hard_. And that was why I had decided to stay at a hotel that night. But when I was about to wake up my daughter, I just didn't have it in me. I lacked the strength to pick her up and carry her to the hotel bedroom. I lacked the _physical_ strength because Liz was too grown-up already, and I was too tired. But I lacked the _emotional_ strength more. Because, even angry and disappointed with him, I wanted to be close to Eric; though I sure didn't want to talk to him. At least, not _yet_.

And so, I drove home. And after Liz was sleeping safely in her bed, I asked Eric to just stay away for another night. And again, he did what I asked of him.

On the next day, a very excited Liz woke up happy to be at home. I could hear in her mind that she thought that I had forgiven Eric already, and so, when she asked about it, she was disappointed when I told her that I hadn't. And then, Liz insisted that she wanted to know what Eric had done. I wouldn't tell her the whole truth, of course, and so I just replied that it was a grown-up's matter and that she had nothing to do with it. And when she kept arguing back, I had to threaten a "no-TV" punishment for her to stop quarrelling with me. Anyway, I drove her to school and then I went to Bloodlust to work for a while.

And later that day, I went to pick up a still-angry-with-me Liz. And you know what? I had had a dreadful day, full of problems. And I hadn't stop thinking about Eric the whole day and I had a huge headache. So you could definitely say that my patience was almost non-existent. And when Liz kept talking about Eric during our dinner, and in a disrespectful way to me on top of that, I just couldn't hear it anymore, and I sent her to bed when it wasn't even 8 pm yet. There would be neither TV nor a bedtime story that night for her. Why the hell had my daughter taken Eric's side without even knowing what had happened? Damn it! I watched her brushing her teeth and then I waited for her to lie on her bed. I told her that she had misbehaved and that she wasn't allowed to talk to me that way because I was older, and her mother and she had to respect me. And then I left her bedroom and closed the door, leaving her there alone to think about the way she had behaved. Or _mis_behaved. I went to my bedroom, and I sat on my bed, waiting for my daughter to fall asleep. And an hour later, I heard her brain shutting up because she was finally sleeping.

I went downstairs and I cleaned the kitchen. And later, I went to sleep, alone. I wondered if Eric had indeed slept in our house, or if he had slept somewhere else… In the same hotel where Natércia was, perhaps? And like on the previous night, I cried myself to sleep. But then, later that night, I woke up when I heard Eric walking between my bedroom and Lizzie's. And when some time later, he walked back along the stairs, I called him.

And you know something? For the first time _ever_, Eric looked tired. And I felt bad that he was that way because of me. Especially because I knew that I _could _forgive him. I just wasn't sure yet if I could forget the whole thing. But looking at him… Seeing his given-up air… It pained me.

And then, we talked.

And while we talked about what had happened, I thought about all the times that he had made me happy. And I thought about how he cared for Liz, and how he had received us both with open arms in his house and in his life. And I thought about how I loved him and how I had always felt loved by him. But above all, I thought about how I never wanted for that to end.

And I just forgave him, while I vowed to myself that I would do my best to forget it as well.

And, as usual, Eric just _knew_ how I was feeling. He _knew _what I needed. And he did his best to take away the sadness that was still in me. And he actually made me smile. And then, he even made me laugh.

And how did he do it, you ask? Well, he made me remember that even though I hadn't known him for 800 years like… some _other_ people, the two of us also had a history together. A great history together. And so, he made me recollect the first time _he_ kissed _me_ after I… _helped_ him after he was shot. Okay, fine, I admit it: my help consisted on sucking a bullet out of his chest after he was shot by the Fellowship of the Sun at a party in Dallas. And he made me recall that time in Jackson when we _really kissed _for the first time after I had drunk his blood. And then, I kissed him again, and it felt like a first time all over again.

And after that, we made love. And he was so gentle and affectionate…

Our sex life was… Well, pretty healthy. And so we kept trying different ways (but not _too_ different). Sometimes it was urgent and fast. You know… The kind that was purely hunger-driven, when he would almost rip off my clothes and, well… fuck me senseless. And at other times, it was of the slower kind, which just seemed to build and build until I couldn't stand it anymore and just begged him to have me. Yes, the sex we had… it could be either hard and physical or caring and emotional; and absolutely everywhere. And if you asked me to choose which one I liked better, I really wouldn't know what to answer you.

But that night? That night, he was particularly tender and sweet with me. And every time he entered me, it was deep but slow. And then, when I started feeling that my orgasm was just around the corner, I tried to make him go faster and bite me, but he kept his slow pace. I even cut my tongue on his fangs on purpose because I knew that it would make him crazy. But it was as if he hadn't even tasted my blood in his mouth. So I asked him to bite me. Hell, I _begged_ him to bite me. And let me tell you that it is something you never have to ask a vampire (_any_ vampire) twice. Especially, when you are having sex with said vampire. But Eric didn't. He didn't bite me. Instead, he just licked my ear and told me in his low, sexy voice that he loved me. My body was on overload already and his words _alone_ made me cum. After wondering for the last two nights if Eric would still want to be with me, the feeling of him inside me and his words whispering that he loved me were just… Well, an _otherworldly_ experience.

And soon after that, the sun rose and Eric died for the day. I managed to sleep for another hour but then it was breakfast time for Liz and I had to get up.

My day was as normal as any other. It started with Liz's hug and apology for misbehaving during breakfast after I told her that everything was alright again between me and Eric. And after I drove her to school, I worked at Deadliest for a while. I then had lunch with our new liquor suppliers. After lunch, I went to the Post Office and then I picked Liz up at school and drove her to her swimming class. The only different thing that day was that when we left the pool, we went to Bon Temps, rather than Shreveport.

I had called Jason earlier that day and I had explained our situation (without many details, obviously). And he had been great about it and he had said that we'd be welcome at his place. "Of course you can stay Sook. You'll both sleep in the boys' bedroom. They'll be here to have dinner with us but then they'll sleep at their moms'," he said. Jason had a boy from his second marriage and another boy from his third. He was currently with wife number four. People in Bon Temps were starting to call him "serial groom".

And so, after Liz's swimming class, we did go to Bon Temps. We intended to stop by Tara and JB's so Lizzie would meet Tara's new baby, Alice, who was just two months old (I had already seen the baby once when she was just a few days old). But when I called her, she said that the baby wasn't in a good mood that day, so we rescheduled the visit for next time we would be in Bon Temps. Because of that, as soon as we arrived at my small town, I drove immediately to Jason's.

I had wondered about maybe meeting Bill that night, because I always visited him when I was in Bon Temps. And I decided that yes, I _would_ meet Bill, but without Liz because he had never felt comfortable around children. Therefore, she would stay with her uncle, so I drove to Jason's. His boys were already there, and Liz immediately ran to the back yard to see her cousins' tree house, that they had been _slowly_ building for over two months.

I then helped Linda, Jason's new wife, start the dinner, while Jason watched a repeat of a game in the living room. Linda was a former high-school flame of Jason's and she had been married once before herself, with her other high-school sweetheart, who got her pregnant a couple of months before she graduated. The marriage didn't last though and she had been a divorcee for eighteen years, before Jason managed to convince her to give him a shot. Linda's son, Brian, was living in California and trying to become an actor, while in reality, he was a bellboy in a fancy hotel.

When I realized that it was almost night-time, I then told Jason and Linda, that I had to go run an errand in town, and that they should just start their dinner when it would be ready because I wasn't sure how long I would stay in town. Jason looked at me in a brotherly-concerned way, but when he didn't ask me when I was going, I just said that I would try to be back in an hour and then I left. And I drove to Bill's.

As soon as I got there, I rang the bell, and a smiling Bill opened the door, with a polite: "So good to see you here, Sookie. I wasn't expecting you tonight."

"Hello Bill," I said hugging him, "I'm sorry I didn't call before I came."

"You know you're always welcome here, Sookie. Please, come in," he answered me and then he kind of pointed to his living-room telling me that I should go there.

We both sat on his couch and he offered me juice or water. After I thanked him, but then declined, Bill asked me if everything was alright with me. I told him that I was alright, but he knew me better than that, and after five minutes of small-talk, he said, "Why are you really here, Sookie?"

But I didn't answer. Not even _I_ knew why I was there. I guess I needed to talk to someone who understood the vampire's nature and Bill would be that person. Yes, there was always Pam. But she would never stop being Eric's child, and I knew that she would try to make me see Eric's point of view on what had happened between him and Natércia. Where as with Bill, I would get an honest opinion about the whole thing.

And now, you're probably wondering: if I forgave Eric, why was I still thinking about it? Well, I _had_ forgiven him. But I was afraid that I would keep resenting him. And if that were to happen, then the forgiveness wouldn't matter, because I would have lost all my faith and trust in Eric.

"I…" And then I shut up. Should I really talk to Bill? I knew that despite Eric's silence on my friendship with Bill, he really didn't like my former neighbor. Was it fair to Eric that I would share our personal life and problems with Bill? On the other hand, was it fair to me that I couldn't be able to confide in my friend?

"It's been many years, but my blood is still in you. I still know when you're not yourself Sookie," Bill said.

"You do?"

"And I will always. You could be turned and live for five thousand years, and my blood would still be in you," he answered. And then he added, "Unless I would go through the same process Eric did when you separated, we will always have a connection between us Sookie. My blood calls to you. And it's telling me now that there's a problem with you. Now, will you tell me, so I can help you?"

I took a deep breath and then I asked, "Do you know a Natércia? She's Eric's friend."

"Nat Amaral? Yes, I've met her. She lived here in Louisiana for a few years when you were in Tennessee. Why?"

"She… She's back."

"Oh…" was Bill's only reply.

I waited for him to add something more, but when he didn't, I had to ask him, "What do you mean 'oh'?"

"Natércia is… she's a very good friend of Eric, Sookie."

"Yes, so he told me," I said.

"And you mustn't…" Bill started saying, but then he stopped.

"What? What mustn't I do?"

"You mustn't get in the middle of them."

I mustn't get in the middle of them? Eric was my boyfriend, we were living together and he was my kind of husband. My daughter thought of him as her father and he kept telling me how much he loved me. But despite all that, Eric had kissed Natércia twice. And now Bill, _my_ _friend_ Bill, who knew (first hand) that cheating was a deal-breaker with me was telling me to just shut up and let Eric and Natércia get on with it? I wondered what was behind Bill's words. "Why?"

"They… Listen Sookie, I've told you this before. We aren't good. There's lots of madness and wickedness and immorality in all of us, vampires. And just a very few of us are capable of friendship. Even amongst our kind."

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

"Vampires aren't friends with other vampires. The only time a relationship between vampires lasts is when there's a Maker/Child connection. And even then… I've told you how my long relationship with Lorena was rare because it lasted for 70 years. We are almost incapable of staying on good terms with other vampires for more than a few decades," Bill said and then he stopped. And I was sure that there would be a big "but" coming my way. And, unfortunately, I had been right. "But… What I meant was…" And then he stopped again.

"What, Bill?"

"Like I said, we are almost incapable of staying on good terms with other vampire for more than a few decades. But Nat and Eric have been friends ever since they met. They are the only non Maker-Child couple that I know of, who kept a good relationship between them for that long. And Natércia… She's not good, Sookie. You really should stay away from her."

I sighed and then I said, "Eric kissed her. Twice. And then he came home, said he was sorry and asked me for forgiveness."

"And you did?"

"I love him. I had to," I answered.

"So, there you go. You've made your decision already Sookie."

"But…" I wanted to scream at myself "but what?" because I sure didn't know what I should be saying after that "but". So I just closed my mind and didn't utter a single word after it.

"But you're still afraid that he'll cheat on you?"

"I don't think so. But… They'll be meeting tonight… I guess," I told him.

"You guess?" Bill asked.

"I… I… I just don't know Bill. He doesn't tell me everything. He _never_ told me everything and I don't expect that he will start doing it now. So, I just… I don't know. He said that he would call her tonight so they could meet and then figure out things between them. But I don't know if he did, or if he didn't. I just don't know. He texted me saying that he would meet her tonight but I just don't know. Hell, I don't even know what I should think about the whole thing. I don't know if I did the right thing forgiving him. Or if I even _really_ forgave him. Maybe I didn't really forgive him and this will always be between us. But… there's Lizzie too. And she loves Eric. Should I keep her away from him if we separate? Or will he still want to spend time with her? And what should I tell Liz? But the main thing is that I love him. I know you don't like to hear this, but I really love him… so much, Bill. But… what if he makes love with Natércia tonight? What if he chooses her over me? I really don't know how I will react if Eric cheats on me… And even if he won't… Will I be able to trust him in the future, as I did until know? And what if, in a week or a month he just calls me saying that he's delayed at the bars for some reason. Will I believe him then Bill? Or will I stay at home wondering if he's having sex with a blond, a red-haired or a brunette? What will happen then?"

And that was when I realized that I had started crying during my speech. Bill moved close to me, and just grabbed me and hugged me in his arms. His hands kept moving up and down my back and he would kiss my hair every couple of minutes. And you know what? It felt damn good to be comforted by my friend.

Eventually, I managed to calm down again, and Bill then started to say that I should "give it some time". He told me to keep playing my cards one hand at a time. And then he said that he knew that I was an intelligent woman and that he was sure that I would decide the best outcome for both me and my daughter. And a little less than one hour after I had arrived, I left Bill's and I drove to my brother's house.

The roast beef had cooked easily, and they were starting to sit at the table when I arrived there. And then the six of us had a family dinner. The children talked among themselves the whole time, and I was able to spend an _almost_ nice evening with my brother and my sister-in-law, even though my mind was in Shreveport with Eric. And Natércia.

By 10 pm, everyone was in their bed. Well, everyone but me. Eric had texted me earlier, a little after he rose, saying that he was to meet Natércia at our place at midnight. If I wasn't so worried about everything that was to happen then, I would think that a meeting between vampires, at midnight, was somewhat poetic. Five minutes after that text message, he texted me again saying that Pam would be at my brother's at 11 pm.

And so, there I was, in Jason's living room with the TV on but not really watching it. I was waiting for Pam and silently praying that my (kind of) husband's ex-girlfriend wouldn't kill him.

At five past eleven, Pam arrived. She looked worried. And _that_ worried me.

As soon as she got inside the house, she asked: "You've been to Bill's?"

I told her that I had and then I asked her why. And Pam just replied that I "reeked of Compton" and that Eric wouldn't like it at all. But, at that moment, when I was waiting for the outcome of Eric's meeting with his ex-girlfriend, who wanted to have sex with him, and who, by the way, he had kissed twice a couple of nights before, I just absolutely didn't care that Eric wouldn't like that I smelled of Bill. Hell, for all I knew, it could even be good. Then Eric would better understand what I felt when he told me that he had kissed that… _person._

I pointed to Jason's living room, and we moved there. We then sat in silence, until I _had to _speak.

"Any news?" I asked.

"Sookie, they'll meet at midnight. It's not half past eleven yet," Pam answered almost angrily.

Maybe she was hungry? So I then I told her that Jason didn't have any True Blood there because he hadn't been expecting her visit, and I said that I was sorry for that. But she only answered that it didn't matter because she had already ate that night. And then we kept in silence for a little longer, watching TV. Or rather, _pretending_ that we were watching TV because in reality we were both doing some serious over-thinking and we were both just worrying about Eric.

Ten minutes after our silence had started, a Van Helsing movie also started. And I sure didn't want to watch a movie about vampire-killers because even thought I wouldn't be sad for Natércia's death, I was sure that I would die if I lost Eric. And so, I just turned-off the TV and I moved my body slightly in Pam's direction. It was time for a little _tet-a-tet_.

"Did Eric tell you about a couple of nights ago?"

"He did. He told me they fought and he said that he told Natércia that you were his wife and that she didn't appreciate it." Didn't appreciate it? Talk about an understatement. She had _attacked _him!

"Did he tell you that he kissed her?"

"Yes. But he also said that it didn't mean a bloody thing to him," when I didn't answer her nor did I shoot her another question, she added, "He's crazy about _you_,Sookie. I hope you know that."

"But he also loves Natércia…" I whispered.

"Of course he does. They met in the twelfth century for fuck's sake! And they've been friends ever since. Can you imagine what 800 years are? Can you grasp the concept of that much time?" Pam asked. And then I forced myself to think about it. "I don't think you can," she added a minute later.

And I figured that she was right. I really couldn't comprehend what that much time meant. It was overwhelming just to think about such a vast period. And Eric and Natércia had been friends and sometimes lovers for that long. And Bill had said how rare it was. Eric and Natércia had went through different eras together, and they had trusted each other during that whole time, when their own survival depended on who did they trust. So, yes, even though I couldn't comprehend what that much time meant, I_ could _understand the deep meaning that such a friendship would have for them both. And I was okay with it. It was Eric's right to choose his own friends, even if I didn't like them. Hell, he didn't like my friendship with either Sam or Bill; but Eric let me meet them whenever I wanted. And he never sulked about it. Or _hardly_ ever. So, yes, Natércia being Eric's friend was something that I was willing to accept. But _just_ the friendship.

My problem was that Natércia wanted much more than that. And I wouldn't allow her to have sex or even kiss my "kind of husband". Because even though our marriage wasn't a marriage at all, Eric was with _me_. He had chosen _me_. We were a _family_ now. And Natércia wanted to break us apart. Jesus! How I wished she'd just go back to whatever God-forsaken place she had come from.

"Do you think she'll go away now?" I asked a minute later. I trusted Pam's opinion and I wanted to know her thoughts.

"I seriously doubt it," Pam said.

I was dreading her next answer, but I couldn't keep myself from asking: "What do you think will happen tonight?"

"They'll meet and talk. She'll try to convince him to kill you. Or, at least, try to convince him to leave you for her. And he'll try to convince her to accept you," Pam answered.

"And then what?"

"And then they'll either fuck or fight, depending on how the talk goes. If they fuck, then we'll all have to deal with Natércia here in Louisiana for four or five years before they are done with each other again. And if they fight, then one of them will win," she said.

And I almost trembled when she talked about how they could "fuck" that night. Eric had told me that he loved me and he had said that he wouldn't cheat on me. And even Pam had said, not even ten minutes before that he was _crazy about _me.

"And which do you think will happen?"

"I'd say it can go either way."

"But you've just said that he's crazy about me. Would he cheat on me then?"

"He's also crazy about her. It's almost as if she has some kind of light influence over him. He's always himself, but it's like there's a pull that brings him to her time after time," Pam said.

Okay. So Pam thought that there was a 50-50 chance that Eric would either cheat on me, or not. Jesus! Would I always be cheated on? And with women who weren't worth a damn. My first relationship ever, with Bill, had been based on a lie. And it had ended when he exchanged me for Lorena, who, by the way, tortured him just a little after that. Then, my ex-husband had cheated on me, with a girl that was already pregnant with another man's baby when their son was not even two years old. Jesus!

And no matter how much over it I thought that I was, cheating would always be a sensitive subject to me. And now there was a chance that Eric would cheat on me too. A 50% chance. Good God! I then decided that I didn't even want to ponder that hypothesis, so instead, I decided to focus on the fighting option. And if there was a chance of a fight, then another question was of utterly importance."Do you still think that she's older?"

"I do. Eric does as well. I've told you: they fought once and she won. But no one knows why, she was merciful and let him live, even though he had challenged her," she answered.

Not killing someone, letting him live, was "being merciful" in Pam's mind? Jesus! I would never get used to the vampire way of things. And no matter how close my relationship to them, or how much time I spent with them, I would never have the "kill" concept that they did. Vampires _sure_ had a different way to see things.

"So if they fight, Eric will die for sure?" Amazingly, I was calm when I asked that. I guess that I was still in some kind of limbo. I wasn't yet _really_ considering that Eric's death was a possibility. I just couldn't picture Eric not being alive. Well, him not being just dead, but rather finally-dead, I mean. Yeah, I couldn't even imagine going through the process of losing Eric because he had to fight for me (again!).

"No. He might prevail," Pam answered.

"He might prevail…" I repeated after her, whispering. And when Pam didn't say a thing after that I asked, "How?"

"When you are as old as they are, a couple of decades means less than if you are younger," Pam said.

"What are you saying?" God! It was as if I needed forceps to take the truth out of Pam. I wanted to scream at her to just tell me everything already. But instead, I just added, "What do you mean?"

"Well, let's say that Eric was 200 years old and she was 230 when they first fought. Thirty years in 200 is more that 10 per cent. It matters. And those three decades gave Natércia the necessary physical strength to win over Eric."

"And you've said before… he lost then…" I kept whispering. It was as if I didn't want anyone to hear those words. Almost as if speaking in a low voice prevented it to be true. Eric had lost once when he fought Natércia. Would he lose again? Would I lose him?

"Yes, he did. He once told me that, up until then, it was the hardest one-on-one fight he had ever engaged in."

"Oh…" What else could I say? I wanted to leave Jason's so much. I wanted to go back to my place and just pack a couple of clothes and then beg Eric to go away and run with us. I wanted for him and Liz to just leave with me, and we would leave everything behind. Because we only needed each other. I wanted… I wanted for the world to just let us be. But I knew that if I was to go back to our place, and talk to Eric about running away, he wouldn't be happy about it. And for once, I decided that I would do what he had told me to do.

I was freed from my thoughts by Pam, who kept talking, "But today? It doesn't matter so much. Eric's probably… Hell, I don't know… 1040. She's 1070. The same three decades gap means less now than it did before. You understand?"

I nodded and Pam continued with her explanation, "Besides, he's taller and bigger. And he knows how to fight. He has the knowledge; he knows when to attack and when to defend. And he knows how to do it. And, furthermore, they will meet at your place. And Eric knows the house and he knows where he keeps weapons."

Pam was in a "chatty mode" (something really rare) and so I decided to make good use of it.

"Will Eric be in trouble if he kills her?" I had heard something about Eric paying a fee to Long Shadow's maker when he killed him, to protect me. But back then, Eric and I weren't close, and he never really told me about it. And I had also heard Eric on the phone with Ocella's "younger sister" about the same thing. But I wondered if it would only be a pecuniary fee, or if there was the chance to be even more after that.

"Yes. Her maker is still alive and he'll want restitution. And Natércia is very old. If he kills her, Eric will have to pay Natércia's maker _a lot_ of money," Pam answered.

"But that's it, right? He pays and it's over?"

"Not necessarily. After Eric pays him for his loss, Natércia's maker will want to know why she was killed. And Eric will have to explain to him why they fought. If he agrees with Eric's reasons behind the fight, everything will end after Eric pays him. Then, the case is closed. But if he doesn't agree, if he feels that his child had a wrongful death, than it's in his right to challenge Eric," she said.

Oh my God! So, I was, first praying that Eric wouldn't succumb to Natércia's charms and choose her over me. Secondly, I was hoping that _he _would kill _her_, and not the other way around. And thirdly, I was wishing that Natércia's maker wouldn't try to hurt Eric after everything else. Pam had been talking about maybe doing a Creative Writing course or something like that. Well, if she ever did it, she could write about my life, because I was sure that just one book wouldn't be enough. She'd have to write _several_ books about it.

But back to the point: Natércia's maker. Another question was needed on the subject.

"How old is he?" I asked.

"I don't know. I've never met the guy. I just know he was born in Greece. Eric once told me that when he met Natércia in Italy, she had only been there for a couple of years. Before that, she had spent a few decades with her maker in a town close to Athens."

"And Eric told you that? Why?" Why would Eric share that detail with Pam? He knew that she didn't like Natércia. Why would he make Pam listen to him talking about Natércia? Was Natércia that important to Eric that he would force Pam to listen about Natércia?

"Yeah, I did a cruise on the Greek islands in the eighties, and he told me what I should visit there and what not. When I asked him how he knew that, he said that Natércia had showed him the country twice, and that she knew it because she had stayed there for a while with her maker. It was his birth country."

Jesus! More common history between Eric and Natércia. Just what I needed to hear! Damn it! They had spent some time in Greece. And all over Europe, I figured. Whereas we had only been to Tennessee together a couple of times, and also to Las Vegas a few more times. But those Las Vegas' trips had been half work-related, half vacations. And it was my fault. Eric had hinted at me about maybe taking a trip together… He even suggested Florida, so Liz could go to Disney World; but I had always been busy with one thing or the other…

I promised to myself, if we did manage to survive all that, we'd go away for a week with Liz, and then we would leave her with Pam, and go away just the two of us for a couple more days!

"Oh, I see…" I answered.

"But one thing is for sure," Pam said with a worried voice tone, that scared me to my core, "he is older than Natércia."

"I heard them talking yesterday. Natércia made a vampire once. Can he challenge Eric as well?" Would Eric have to fight Natércia's child too?

"She has two children: Francisco and Alvaro. And they can challenge Eric as well, but I don't think that they will," Pam answered.

"Why?"

"First of all, Eric's stronger than them. And moreover, they can't stand Natércia. They are both older than me and she still keeps them on a little leash. They are _still_ living next to her and _still_ working for her."

Pot. Kettle. "You live next to Eric and you work for him."

"Because I want to. Not because Eric demands it."

"Ohh."

"Besides, I came here just because of the Great Revelation. We didn't know how humans would react and Eric asked me to come to him because he wanted me close, so he could protect me if things had gone wrong."

Yes… I had never thought about it before. But vampires had obviously known about the Great Revelation _before_ it had happened. And it made sense that Eric would want Pam close to him, just in case. He was such a pragmatic man. "I can understand that," I said.

"And after that night, Eric decided to open a bar, and he offered me partnership on the first Fangtasia. So I stayed in the US. I hadn't seen him since the seventies, when he came here to study something that I don't recall what. We had only spoken on the phone for those three decades."

Just as with their "kill" concept, the way vamps talked about decades was as if it were months, which would never stop bothering me. And I thought again about Pam's previous question, when she asked me if I truly understood what 800 years meant.

"And if Eric dies?" I asked whispering.

I don't know what I was expecting Pam to answer me. I did not even know why I had asked her that. I just… I hoped to God that our family would survive all that.

"Then, I would somehow kill Natércia," she said.

"But you're younger."

"I'm not stupid Sookie. I wouldn't fight her directly. But I would kill her. One way or another," she said full of certainty.

"I would help you. I could even kill her during the day," I answered.

And to tell you that I was surprised at myself, at my words, was an understating. That was more than just _thinking_ that someone deserved to die. That was even more than _wishing_ someone's death. I was saying that I would purposely kill someone. And not in self defense. But a planned act. And I was absolutely sure that I really meant what I had said.

Wait… I could do that to _prevent_ her from killing Eric, and not as retaliation.

"Pam, what if I killed Natércia tomorrow? During the day? Then Eric would never have to fight her. Let's call him and ask him to postpone their meeting another day and…" I was already getting up to pick my cell phone when Pam grabbed my arm and made me sit again.

"He won't do it Sookie. He has known her for too long."

"But it would mean that he wouldn't risk his life…"

"It doesn't matter. He still likes her too much to allow it. And he still likes her too much to kill her in a wrongful way. I begged him to let me be there tonight so I could help him if he needed. I'm much younger than Natércia, but there would be two of us. And he didn't let me Sookie. He wants to follow the proper protocol concerning Natércia. And that includes her potential death. Or his, for that matter," Pam said.

Okay, here's the thing: staying immobilized and in silence was something that vampires did quite often. I guess that living for centuries, watching the world change in front of you while you stayed the same could be somewhat disturbing sometimes. So they had a need to stop and ponder everything in silence from time to time. And especially after those last two and a half years, with Eric, I was starting to see the appeal of it. And so, after my unusually long conversation with Pam, we both stayed in silence for a while.

But then I interrupted the quietness, obviously. I just couldn't be left alone with my own thoughts. They were too frightful. "That's the fight hypothesis. But what about if they have sex hypothesis? You said that you think it's possible?" Not that _that_ wasn't as scary as well. Because it was. But at least, Eric would stay alive. With other woman. But _not _finally dead.

"It is possible, yes. But…" She then paused and put her right hand on top of her left breast. It was as if she was feeling her unbeating heart.

"But what, Pam? Pam?"

"He's angry. Eric's fucking angry. I'd say that… No. I'm sure of it. They're fighting. They are fighting already," she said almost breathless.

But… Pam? Breathless? And besides, her hand was still next to her heart. And suddenly her chest started moving as if she was _indeed_ breathless. It was as if she was taking a couple of deep breaths every second. And she kept repeating that they were fighting and that Eric was angry. I asked her question after question about it, but she just answered that she didn't know anything else.

About an hour later, suddenly, she got up, "Sookie, we have to go."

"Is the fight over?"

"I don't think so. I guess they are still fighting but I'm not sure," she said.

She wasn't sure? She guessed that they were still fighting? I knew that Eric wouldn't want us there if the fight was still going on. I was absolutely sure that he would _not_ want us there. Yes, I wanted to leave Jason's and go back to Shreveport. I had wanted it since I had arrived. But I didn't want to do something that Eric wouldn't want me to do. And Pam sure knew it.

"If they are still fighting, then why do we need to go?" I asked. Would _Eric_ want us there if they were still fighting? Did he need Pam there to help him win Natércia over? But if that was the case, I knew that he wouldn't want me there too. Actually, I was pretty sure that he would want me as far away from there as possible. And I really thought that I should obey him that time. But nonetheless, and despite my fear, I did want to go to Shreveport so I would _finally _know what was happening there.

"Because Eric is feeling desperate," she said, right before she felt the need to add, "and because he is in pain."

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**Next chapter: an Eric's POV about his meeting with Natércia…! :) Do you have any commentaries about this chapter or any expectations about the next chapter? If so, please review. Thank you. Célia**

"**Keep the Faith" is the fifth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on November 3, 1992 by Mercury Records and it represents the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Bon Jovi, which turned away from glam metal in favor of a more mature rock sound. This album includes the song "Fear". It starts this way: "**_**I see you looking over your shoulder / Tell me who do you think`s out there / You`re reaching for your four leaf clover / But baby there ain`t no luck down there / I swear that there`s no heart in this city / It`s here the slogan reads `Do your time` everybody`s doing their sentence"**_


	44. Something For The Pain

**Hi! First of all, I'm sorry that it took me over a week to update again: too much work, a bachelotte party organized by me and one of my best friends' wedding (and all those extra things that she kept asking me to help her with), prevented me from updating sooner. But next chapter is almost done, and you won't wait too long for it, I swear. Anyway, Charhamblin's beta-skills and help were amazing and Charlaine Harris' characters are amazing too. And now, without further ado, here's chapter 44. I hope you'll enjoy reading it. Hugs from Portugal, Célia**

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**Eric "Something For The Pain"**

The previous two nights had been a fucking nightmare for me. An _authentic_ fucking nightmare for me. And I had never felt so bad about myself. It all begun after I went to pick Nat up at the Continental Hotel, and from then on, it only got worse and worse.

That night, I had introduced Sookie and Nat, and, at the_ first _glance,everything had developed in the right way. None of them had been aggressive towards the other, and for a few moments I actually thought that everything would be okay. But then, when I left at midnight, Sookie didn't let me kiss her. I obviously asked her what was wrong, but she only gave me her "we'll talk about it later" face and so I left to Fangtasia with Nat. And for a few hours after that, I actually had a nice night with Nat and a few more vampires. Besides, Mark Sottomayor, Felipe de Castro's emissary, hadn't given us any problem during his visit to one of my bars that night. So yeah, I'd say that until more or less 4 am, my night had been a somewhat _regular _night – not good, but not bad either. But, later as I drove Nat to her hotel, the shit hit the fan, and my night transformed into a fucking nightmare.

And why? Because when I went upstairs to Nat's room, so she could give me a few documents that Adelaide had asked her to deliver to me (yes, in retrospective, I know that I should never have gone upstairs), she then kissed me. And my body just reacted the way it was used to reacting and I kissed her back. But, I swear, in _less _than two minutes after I had started responding to Nat's advances on me, I got up and moved out of the bed.

And _that_ was something that Natércia didn't understand nor appreciated. And then, when she asked why I wouldn't fuck her, I just decided that enough was enough, and I opened up and told her of how I felt towards Sookie. And she, well… she went berserk and just… attacked me. I let her hit me for a few minutes, but eventually, I punched her back. And we just… fought. But then all Nat's anger disappeared and turned into sadness when I told her that Sookie was my real companion, which was a word that we had always used between just the two of us.

And telling Nat that Sookie was my companion had the same effect that telling Ocella that I had spent my days with Sookie. And so, after those "bomb-phrases", they were both obliged to acknowledge Sookie and how much she meant to me. And as soon as I said it, Nat told me to leave. Which I did. _Gladly_.

I left the hotel, and I immediately drove home. As soon as I got inside, I just quickly checked Lizzie's room (I wanted to make sure that she was sleeping alright) and then I went to my room. I woke up Sookie and then I had the hardest conversation of my whole life. I told her about kissing Natércia and about fighting her because she had freaked when I hadn't had sex with her. And the way Sookie looked at me… It almost broke my heart. She was so sad and disappointed that I hadn't been up to her expectations… I told her how sorry I was, and that I wished that I had never done it. I talked about the huge guilt that I felt, and how I would do everything differently if I had the chance. I said that I loved her, and that if she still wanted me, I would stay with her for as long as I could. But, apparently, she didn't. And so she asked me to leave the room and sleep downstairs that day.

And when I went to sleep that dawn, I knew that I had never felt as alone as in that precise moment. However, on the next night, Sookie proved me wrong because as soon as I woke up, I felt even _more_ alone. And why? Because both my wife and my daughter weren't there. And you know what else wasn't there? A fucking note saying that they'd arrive home later that night. And neither were a few of their clothes and personal objects. I felt like dying all over again.

But then, later that night, thank the Gods, Sookie came home again. And I felt immediately better, because even though she still didn't want to forgive me (or even see me for that matter), at least they were both at home. Close with me.

My loneliness lasted for another day and part of the next night. Because then, that second night after I had told Sookie everything about Natércia, she forgave me. Yes, Sookie, tender-hearted as she was, forgave me, even without saying the words. And then she allowed me to hug her. And later, I died for the day with her in my arms.

On the next night, I woke up alone and I felt lonely again. But I knew that Sookie would be with Liz at her brother's, and I was happy for that. They would be safe there because no vampire could enter that house, and that was the most important thing. I got up, I dressed, and then I grabbed my cell-phone and went to the living room. I had a crucial phone call to make.

I sat on the couch where not even 72 hours before Sookie, Nat and I had talked about Zephyrus, and I called Natércia. And… well, I wasn't sure _if _she would even answer her phone after what had happened. But luckily, she did. And I was glad for that. Nat and I really had to talk.

"Eric," Natércia acknowledge me as soon as the call began.

"Hello Natércia. How are you?" I asked. She had probably recovered in only a few hours after our fight two nights before, just as I had. When you get to be our age, we pull through our wounds much quicker than younger vampires.

"I'm okay. But you couldn't say the same about my bedroom though," she answered.

"Are you still in Shreveport?" I had wanted to call her earlier. But, at the same time, I hadn't. The whole situation was just a real cluster fuck.

"Yes, I'm still at the hotel. Though I had to move to another bedroom. And I'll pay a shit-ton of money because of the furniture we broke," she said with an almost normal voice; she only sounded slightly mad at me. It was as if the fight between us hadn't even happened. But that she was only vaguely annoyed with me for some lesser issue.

"I'm sorry about that," I said. I was talking about the destroyed furniture but meaning the fight as well.

"Yeah. I'm sorry too," she answered me. She was probably talking about both the furniture and the fight too. And then she added, "It was not the first time we broke a hotel's bed, though."

I remembered past, happier days between us and I almost smiled. But the operative word there was _almost_. Because I wouldn't be able to smile until we resolved all those problems between us and I was sure that no harm would come to either Sookie or Liz. "No, it was not our first broken bed," I answered.

"But it was the first time we did it fighting," she concluded immediately, "Listen Eric, we should meet. We have to talk," she added one second later.

"We should. That was actually why I was calling you," I said.

"Yes, I figured as much. Great minds think alike."

"They do."

"So, where and when do you want to meet?"

"Maybe I could pick you up? I can be there in half an hour or so?" I suggested.

"No. I want to have dinner first and… I need a couple of hours to think things through before I see you again. No, not yet. Let's meet at midnight, instead. And I don't want you to drive me anymore either. I don't think I'll ever want you to drive me anymore," she said.

For centuries, I had operated the horses. And since the first cars were commercialized, I had always been the one who drove whenever we were together. The fact that she didn't want me to pick her up spoke volumes. And it said that she was disappointed with me. So I could only answer her, an unintelligent "ohh".

"But I can meet you in one of your bars, if you want," she proposed.

"Come here. To my house. I don't want to talk to you in a bar. Will you come to my place, Nat?"

And then she said she would. We talked for a couple more minutes, both recognizing that we wanted to correct everything between us. I could tell by her voice that she was still kind of mad but she would gladly meet me at my place.

As soon as that conversation ended, I then called Pam and told her all about the previous night. I explained to her how Sookie and I had talked and how everything was alright again between us. And then I told Pam about my phone call with Nat, and that I would be meeting Natércia in a few hours. And then Pam kept insisting that she wanted to be there with me. But I knew how they both felt about each other, and I wouldn't want another stressful issue for Natércia that night. No. Pam would not be there with me. And instead, I told her to go to Sookie, at her brother's house. I was almost sure that Natércia wouldn't go there. But knowing Nat how I did, I didn't want to take the chance. Even though it would be a one in a thousand probability of Nat knowing where Sookie was, and going there, I didn't want to risk it. Sookie and Liz were my life, and I would feel much better knowing that Pam was with them. And eventually, my phone call with Pam ended too. But I stayed on the couch for a few more minutes, just pondering my life.

I really didn't want to fight Natércia. She was way too important to me (not to mention that I wasn't sure if I would win such a fight). I hadn't lied when I had told Sookie that Nat was my best and oldest friend. Ocella had been just a maker for almost four centuries before I had called him friend. Natércia though, had been my friend just three hours after we met.

I was living in Italy back then and I had a couple of highly glamoured delicious sisters that belonged to me living close by me. Nat drank dry both of them because "they smelled sweet". I realize now that the girls were probably part-fairy. But back then, when I wasn't 200 years old yet, they were just tasty meals.

Natércia had been living with her maker, Zephyrus, next to Athens for a while before he freed her as soon as they had moved to Italy. Back then, Greece was living the end of what the historians now call the Hellenistic period, and the establishment of Roman rule over Greek lands. During that time many Greeks migrated to Alexandria, Antioch, Seleucia and the many other new Hellenistic cities in Asia and Africa founded in Alexander's wake, but Nat's maker had insisted on staying in his own birthplace. But eventually, the subsequent mixture of Roman and Hellenic cultures took form in the establishment of the Byzantine Empire around Constantinople. Byzantium remained a major cultural and military power, until the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks later on. On the eve of the Ottoman conquest, much of the Greek intelligentsia migrated to Italy and other parts of Europe not under Ottoman rule, playing a significant role in the Renaissance through the transmission of ancient Greek works to Western Europe.

And, like many other Grecians, Zephyrus had moved to Italy too. And he had brought Nat along. But then, he suddenly freed her, and she was by herself for the first time ever. Nat also told me that she had been staying in Italy for three or four years. But she had hated the country and had decided she wanted to go to France, though back then we only knew it as Gaul.

And so, she was traveling to France when she smelled (and then killed) my two girls. And that made me angry. It was obvious that my scent was all over the girls – they belonged to a vampire. They belonged to me! But Natércia just didn't care. She had smelled them, and she had just drunk them dry because they had tasted sweet. When, on the following night, I got to the house where the girls lived, I just found their lifeless, bloodied bodies. I could smell that a vampire had been there, and the fang marks that where all over the bodies, left no room for misunderstandings. Another vampire had killed my property! And I would make him pay, so I started following the vampire's smell.

When I tracked the vampire two nights later, I saw Nat for the first time, and I thought that she was very beautiful. But she had killed my girls and I would not let her go unpunished. And so, we fought. And it was my longest one-on-one fight, up until then. And almost two hours later, I lost it. I had fucking lost the fight. I was absolutely sure that she was going to kill me, when the vampire spoke with a perfect voice, the mixture of Latin and Italian that was spoken there, at the time.

"If I let you go, will you still try to kill me? Or can you just forget that I killed the girls? I'm leaving to Gaul now, and then to Brittania, and I'd love to have a travelling companion. I'm absolutely sure, I just have this deep feeling, that we could be great together…" she said while I kept staring at her.

Except for her growling during the fight, it was the first time I had heard her voice and it sounded like an angel's. Especially with the musical cadence of the Italian language.

I didn't answer her but she got up from me, released my arms and let me go, nonetheless. That dawn we went to the ground together (for the first of thousands and thousands of nights) so we would both heal our multiple wounds. It would take us two more full days of rest to completely heal.

And so I started my friendship with Natércia. And I did go with her to Gaul, which was under a Roman administration back then. And we even managed to get our very first fake documents, because it was then that we gained Roman citizenship, because of the _Constitutio Antoniniana_, a law that extended citizenship to all free-born men in the Roman Empire.

A few years later, we moved to Brittania, which is now the UK. So, yes, you could say that we travelled a lot and we fed and fucked together a lot too. And that happened for a little more than a decade. And during those years, we were inseparable. But suddenly, we got fed up with each other. And we both decided that we needed some time apart. And so we separated for the first time. And it took us 30 or 40 years for us to get together again. However, during those decades that we were apart, we kept writing to each other. Back then, there was almost no postal service even though the Romans had tried to implement one, but whenever I moved, I made sure Nat knew where I was. And she did the same.

And when we met again, it was intense. It was Hiroshima and Nagasaki intense. Again, we stayed together for a few years, but then we went our separate ways. And so it had been for the last 800 years.

Yes, Nat was really my oldest and my best friend. And I really didn't want to fight or kill her. But I wouldn't let her kill me. We had fought once. And she had won once. But she wouldn't win twice. And so, I went out to Fangtasia, so I could have dinner properly before midnight. I grabbed a couple of frozen blood bags, I warmed the blood on the microwave, and I drank it.

I was back home by 11 pm with my hunger satisfied and ready to fight Natércia, if I had to, though I hoped that we wouldn't get to that. And then I spend the next hour, on the couch in the living room, thinking about our time together in South Africa in the 1920's.

The 1920s was the decade sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age, when speaking about the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom. In Europe the decade was sometimes referred to as the "Golden Twenties" because of the economic boom following World War I. And South Africa was no exception. The newly created "Union of South Africa", as it was called then, was a dominion of the British Empire, and completely Europeanized. The Natives' Land Act of 1913 had severely restricted the ownership of land by black people. So, adding the colonial powers to the economic prosperity, the 1920s was a great decade in South Africa if you were a white, rich land-owner. And Nat and I sure had used that status to have a great time.

I was still remembering our farm in KwaZulu-Natal, when, all of a sudden, I heard a car pull-up and then I smelled Natércia. She just walked in to my house without knocking and two seconds later I saw her by the door of the living room.

Nat was wearing some dark-blue jeans and a black scoop-neck t-shirt. And I felt that I would be more at ease if she had been wearing her usual formal-clothes attire. Why? Because jeans and a black t-shirt told me that she knew that there was a chance for a fight between us that night. The jeans would give her much more movement fluidity than a skirt, of course, and black was the best color to wear, if you wanted to avoid drawing attention to your bloodied clothes. And she had a ponytail. Nat never used to wear her hair up; but it really would be better for someone in a fight to keep the hair away from the face. But she was beautiful nonetheless.

"I can smell that your little blond blood bag isn't here," she said while she stood by the living room door.

"No, she is not," I answered, at least grateful that she hadn't even mentioned Liz.

And, well, you could never say that Nat ran away from stressful conversations. Because she immediately jumped into our main _issue_ with her following words, "Have you changed your mind about her, Eric? Are you willing to leave her? I mean, if you'd kill her, I would prefer that, but are you at least willing to leave that human?"

"No. I am not, Nat."

"But can't you see that I'm forcing you to leave her for your own good? It's _embarrassing_ to have you doing what a human tells you to do," she said walking towards me and the couch.

You could feel the huge tension in the room when she sat by me. It was as if she _hated_ me. But I wanted my friend back and so put my hand on her knee, as I had always done. It was our position and it was completely natural, after thousands and thousands of nights. And I knew that she always calmed down whenever I touched her. If was as if… Well, I always thought of her knee as Nat's own personal Chakra point for calm and serenity, or something.

"I am the one who wants to keep her Natércia," I told her in a soothing voice tone, "I am the one who wants to be with her. I followed her when she left. I really like Sookie and her daughter,"

"The kid's a were Eric," she said with an almost desperate air about her. Natércia couldn't grasp why I was behaving that way and saying those things and she was… well, _worried_ about the fact that I had changed that much, "Are you a were-lover now?" she asked.

"Elizabeth is _half_ were, Nat. And you can barely tell it by her smell. She's much more Sookie than she is her father. And Sookie smells wonderfully. And I know that you won't deny it."

"Is that why you are with her? Her blood? Then please, just please dry her and move on."

Nat's eyes were begging me to drink Sookie and end all of that. She was really worried about me and I knew that she really thought that she was doing the right thing trying to make me leave Sookie. In her mind, she was being a good friend to me. And she was trying to get me free from Sookie. Besides, I also knew that she really was trying her best to understand me. But I knew that she would never understand my next sentence. Either way, I said it.

"I do not care about her blood. Yes, it's tasty and I love it. But I would still be with her if I couldn't drink from her. It is more than just a likeliness Nat," I paused for one second, and then I added, "I love her."

There. I had said it. I had told another vampire that I loved Sookie. And that was something that had taken me over two years to even say to Pam. Though my child had known about it, even before I had told her, obviously.

Now, just the concept of such an old vampire _loving _someone, was not that frequent. But a vampire, as old as I was, being blunt enough about it to actually say that he _loved a human _was not only rare, it was also scary and upsetting. Vampires didn't love. And they sure didn't love humans. But there I was, telling Nat that I loved Sookie.

She pondered over my confession for a minute or two, and then she asked me a question. "Would you choose her over yourself, Eric? Over me?"

"I will not let you harm her Nat," I answered full of conviction.

"Do you really love the human?"

"Yes, I do."

"Did you love me?"

"I think so. I… I think that I still do, Nat. You're my friend. I can't imagine my life without you in it. We've been through too much already," I answered.

"Yes, we have. And I think that I love you too, Eric," it was the first time, in 800 years, that we were talking about it. Love was a feeling. And the conventional idea was that vampires didn't feel. So we had always showed our importance to each other, but we had never uttered those words.

"I'm glad that you do," I told her. And I was.

"And the child?" she asked.

"Elizabeth is Sookie's daughter. When she left me almost 13 years ago, she later married a were-bear and they had Elizabeth. And when Sookie came back to Shreveport, she brought her child with her," I said.

"And her father?"

"Her father died almost a year ago. _I_ am her father now. I love her as my own," I answered her truthfully.

"You really mean it, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Did you kill the biological father?" Natércia asked. And yes, it would have been expected that I would have killed him. After all, he had been with my woman.

"No. He died in a were dispute."

Nat looked appalled by my answer. "Why didn't you kill him?"

"Because Liz would have suffered. She still does. And the last thing I wanted was to bring pain to her."

"And the kid is the reason why you didn't kill the bear?"

"Yes. She was just a little girl, she still is, and she needed her father. And I would never kill her father."

"Even after he married your human."

It hadn't sounded like a question, but rather a statement. However, I answered her nonetheless, with a simple "yes."

"You are different Eric. You are not the man I knew. The old Eric wouldn't have let her leave in the first place if he didn't want her to leave. And he would never allow another man in her life. But you're not the vampire I knew. She belongs to you and you let her have her way. It's so strange," she concluded.

"Yes. I _have_ changed. But I don't regret it. I am happy now. I am a better man _and _a better vampire. But I am sorry that you don't like the new me, Nat. I wished we could stay friends."

"I'm sorry too," she whispered. "And I wished it as well," she added a second later.

As before, she kept her silence for a couple of minutes. I knew she was making her decision. She was choosing if she would accept me with my love for a human, of it she wouldn't be able to live with that knowledge. Nat put her hand on top of the hand that I still had on her knee and looked me in the eyes. She whispered with the same perfect voice that she had always had, "I… I won't understand your new way Eric. I wish that I would, but I know that I won't."

"I'm sorry for that Nat. But this is who I am now."

"Are you sure of it? Are you sure you want this feeble life? Raising a half were kid with a human? Seeing them get older and older? Watching them get sick and eventually die?"

I almost shivered at Nat's words. She was hitting me where it hurt the most. The mere thought of eventually losing either Sookie or Liz to a disease or old age pained me to my core. But I would keep trying to convince Sookie to let me turn her, and, in a couple of decades I would try the same thing with Lizzie. And besides, even if I wouldn't be able to talk them into becoming vampires, I was still sure that I was willing to suffer with their death if that meant I could stay with them while they lived.

"I love them both Nat. I'll stay with them always," I answered, before I said, "no matter what." And I was sure of it. I wouldn't mind Sookie's age. I knew I'd love her forever, wrinkles and white hair, or not.

"And you're sure of it?"

"Absolutely."

"Then I'll… I'll stop. I won't insist that you must leave her. You'd… you'd keep thinking of her. And I… I don't recognize you and… You really sure of what you want?"

"Yes. I am."

Nat then did something un-Natércia like. She sighed. And then she said, "It's your choice, then." We then stood there, looking at each other for a few minutes. And after a second sigh, she added, "Our time together has been a great and long ride. And I've enjoyed it very much, Eric."

"So did I," I answered. And it was the absolute truth. Yes, we had argued over thousands of subjects, but I had always seen my time with Nat as some of the best moments of my whole life. Nat understood me like nobody else. She was the same as me. Or, I guess, she was the same as my _old_ self. And so, we had always completely understood each other. And that had always meant a great time together.

She smiled back at me, and I remembered all over again why she was my friend and I had loved her _for centuries_. Nat's smile had always been incredible. And when she smiled like that at me, it was as if her eyes were smiling to. It would be hard to say goodbye to her. But that was what we were doing then.

"You were the best traveling through time companion ever," she told me.

"So were you. We've been to so many places together. We've met so many people. It was great, Nat."

"_We_ were great," she answered accentuating the "we" word. She then continued talking, "We _are_ great. We _really_ are great together."

"Yes, you're right. We _are_ great together," I told her. And it was true.

And for all accounts, Natércia really was my perfect companion. She was a vampire as old as I was; she understood my instincts, my thoughts, my worries and my purpose in life. She was sexy and gorgeous; and she would always be. She was sharp, intelligent, sarcastic and powerful. And I loved all that about her. We had spent a long time together and we had gone through so many things together. The world had truly changed since we had met, and we had helped each other during that whole time. So, yes, she was my perfect companion. There was only but one problem with Nat. I didn't love her as I loved Sookie. Natércia might be my perfect companion; but Sookie was my true mate, almost my _soul_-mate, if vampires did have a soul.

"And I will miss meeting you from time to time," she said.

Without waiting for my answer, Nat then moved across the couch in my direction and her lips brushed mine. I kissed her back for a couple of seconds, before she moved back to the other side of the couch again. It had been one chaste, innocent and last kiss.

"I'll miss you too, Natércia."

Nat then sat there, looking at me for a few minutes, while I glared her back. And then I saw red in her eyes. Nat wouldn't cry. It wasn't in _her _to cry. But the tears were there.

"I _do _have something else I need to tell you, Eric. And I fear that you'll be angry with me. But there's no more future for us anyway, so it's appropriate that I tell you the whole truth tonight because it will probably be the last time we'll talk this way," she finally whispered with a sad voice.

"What is it?"

"I've wanted to tell you this for centuries, but I didn't want to lose you. And that's why I didn't tell you before."

"What are you talking about?"

"I had already met you before Rome."

"You had? Where?" And how come I didn't remember Nat? She had always been pretty unforgettable to me. I was sure that I would have remembered her if I had seen her before. Perhaps she had confused me with someone else?

"I was only a couple of decades old, then. And that was why I couldn't yet really control myself," she said.

"What are you talking about?" I repeated. What _was_ she talking about? I had never met her when she was that young.

"Zephyrus had wanted to meet the Ancient Pythoness. And he brought me with him to meet her once," she replied.

Her half-sentences and her jumps between different subjects were starting to get to me. I wondered where she wanted to go with all that talk. "What is it that you really want to tell me, Nat? This isn't you. You've always said everything without a second thought. So say it already," I urged her.

Nat took an unnecessary deep breath and then she added, "Back then, the Ancient Pythoness lived in the North of Europe. Close to Jämtland."

Jämtland? I never knew that she had lived there… Not since I was made a vampire, that is. Jämtland was next to the village where I lived when I was still… _alive. _What was Natércia saying? She had met me when I was alive? Was that the reason why I didn't remember that first time she said she saw me? Fuck! Had Nat drunk from me?

"Jämtland?" I whispered.

"Yes. And that was where I first saw you," she said before she added, "And Ocella probably saw you too because you had the unfortunate fate of living in a village that was somewhat close to the main road to Jämtland." And then she didn't add any other word. And we just sat there glaring at each other for a minute or so. But now I wanted to know the whole fucking story. So I took the dive and I asked:

"Was I alive when you saw me?"

"You were."

"Did you drink from me?"

"I did. And I…"

"What?" I whispered.

"I was young and I… I drank too much from you. And because I was afraid that Zephyrus would punish me if killed anyone else, I…"

"What?" I asked again. But I wasn't whispering then. I was almost yelling. Would Nat say what I thought that she was going to say? That she had somehow given me her blood? I… I… I didn't know what to think over that. I just knew that I had to know the fucking truth. "What?" I said a third time.

"I gave you my blood and then I glamoured you to forget everything," she finally said. Fuck! I had drunk from Natércia when I was still a human. I had fucking drunk from Natércia when I was a human. I didn't know what to tell her, and so I kept my mouth shut. And then Nat said, "I never thought I'd see you again. Italy was… It was a coincidence. And when we fought I was about to kill you when I smelled me in you. And that was when I recognized you."

"You…" I started to say, but then I shut up. I _still _didn't know what to tell her.

"I felt my blood in you and I didn't want to kill you. So I asked for you to come with me to France. And you did. And then we got along so well…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" I interrupted her.

"I had wanted to. But at first I only thought that I'd give us some time before dropping that bomb. And eventually, too much time had passed and I didn't know how to approach the subject."

"Do you… Can you influence me?"

"I…" she then stopped.

"Can you influence me, Natércia?" I almost screamed at her.

"I wouldn't say influence you. You only drunk once while you were human. But I know that the blood helped to keep us so close for so many years. But we were always more than the blood Eric. We had always been friends. And you know that," she said.

"I don't know anything about you. It's like… everything was a lie."

"No. No. The blood's just a detail. Everything was real. I only kept this from you. Everything else was the truth. I've only spoken the truth to you."

"Why did you decide to tell me about it now?"

"Because no matter what will happen tonight, we'll never stay the same as we were until a couple of nights ago. _You_ are not the same. You are not the _real-you_ anymore. And I don't like what you've become. However, I know that I will miss you, Eric. I will miss _my friend_."

"Natércia…" I started to say, but she immediately interrupted me.

"And _my friend_ would deserve the truth. And that's why I'm telling you this. I just wished you were still my Eric," she said, moving again on the couch towards me. She brushed a lock of my ear to behind my ear and she kissed my cheek.

Natércia then moved back again on the couch, she smiled at me and she told me goodbye in the Italian language we had first used between us. And she spoke the same name that I used to be called back then. And it was fitting. Yes, it really was appropriate that the last sentence spoken between us, after 800 years and dozens of other languages, would be the same language that had allowed us to speak in the first place. "Arriverdeci Enrico Nortemani," Nat said.

And, as soon as she pronounced the last syllable of my former name, she attacked me with all her might. When you are as old as we both are, very few vamps fight you. And those who stupidly do it are easily overpowered. But I was now fighting another one-thousand-year-old vamp. And it was tough.

And Nat was a badass fighter. And I was sure that she was completely concentrated in winning over me. And there was absolutely no doubt of that in her eyes when I faced her. And suddenly I caught a glimpse of her moving stealthily but extremely quickly as well towards me, and I chose that moment to strike her as well. I feinted forward, and then I dropped into a crouch, while I swept one outstretched leg around me. And Nat was right here, punching my ribs. I swiftly moved, and my foot caught her ankle and I yanked Nat's feet from beneath her. And that was when I heard a deep growl from her that almost paralyzed me. Natércia had pitched backward with her arms flailing and she had smacked her head in the floor.

However, as the 1000-year-old vampire she was, she immediately got up and attacked me back. And all of a sudden, she had grabbed my arm, and she had twisted it while at the same time she had bitten my shoulder. And she even took a piece of my flesh. She had fucking bitten and taken a piece of my shoulder's flesh. My shoulder was like the fucking Apple logo with a piece missing. Arght! And right then and there, I realized that I hated Natércia with all my being. She had fucking lied to me for eight fucking centuries. Eight centuries! But, at the same time, I also hated myself.

After all that time that we had spent together, my mind still couldn't comprehend nor accept that everything had been based on a lie. And Nat and I had spent so much time together. She hadn't killed me that first time we fight, but other than that time; she had actually saved my life six other times. And I'm not even counting all those times when we both fought other vampires, or weres, or even humans when they had attacked us because they had somehow discovered and believed in our monstrous nature. Yes, I knew that I owed my existence to Nat, such as she owed her existence to me.

And all those conflicting thoughts were really messing with my head, and taking my concentration away. And that was when she pushed me towards the wall, and then I fell. Nat pounced onto me, and she rammed a fist into my chin and neck to insure that I was down for good. But I wasn't. Obviously. And Nat knew that. And that was why she didn't dare pause to savor her temporary victory; as soon as my fallen head rebounded from the floor a second time, she was moving again, this time kicking me.

But I quickly managed to get up, and soon it was Nat, who was under me, grabbing her stomach region because I had hit her there with at least half a dozen consecutive and very strong punches.

And just 15 minutes into the fight, I already had at least one, or maybe even two, broken ribs. But Nat was also hurt, I could tell. Every time she moved her right leg, it pained her, and I figured that she had probably a broken leg, or at least a twisted ankle. And her arm, next to her hand, was bleeding severally because I had bitted into her, and lacerated some of her skin and flesh just as she had done to my shoulder.

But she kept attacking me and I did the same.

Her eyes had hatred in them and I knew that she would kill Sookie and Liz if I lost this fight. But I didn't intend to lose it. I was now fighting for much more than my own life. I was fighting for my family's as well. And so, I concentrated on the fight and focused in my own strength.

Half an hour later, my house was pretty much destroyed and we were both a mass of broken limbs and bloodied wounds. Natércia's hate and great anger and the smell and taste of her blood in my mouth, from my last two bites fuelled my own bloodlust and I kept fighting her with all I had.

And so, I kept drawing my energy deep into my core. I thought about Nat's lie. I thought how she had drunk from me. How she had made me drink her blood. And how she had kept it all a fucking secret. And when she hit me again, and she actually managed to grip my upper back, I spun around, and I grabbed her waistline and I threw her up and over. Nat's back hit another wall and I was instantly next to her. And I kept punching her face and her stomach until I grabbed her again, and _again_ I threw her into the air. Nat twisted in the air like a cat, and she landed on all four: her hands and feet were spayed wide and stable.

But just like I had recovered from her attacks, Nat too was up and ready to attack in just a couple of seconds. And despite her limping leg and her broken arm, Nat was still extremely strong. But I knew what to do. And so, I took a risk and I let one of her blows land. And fuck! The crack across my jaw and nose sounded like a gunshot and it actually made my vision cross.

But it was enough.

It was all I needed.

Because when Nat then moved to take advantage of her blow, like I had anticipated, I intercepted her movement. And then, my own blow was as solid and crushing as I could, and I knocked her head to one side, with a crack.

I had unsettled Nat's _momentum_, as she used to call it.

And as Nat stumbled, I helped her down with a kick to the thigh of her limp leg, and a second palm into her chest. Nat grunted in pain and she fell. I dropped with her. With all my considerable weight over her. I laid one forearm across her throat. And that was when I knelt across her hips, sinking my weight to prevent her from bucking me off or kicking up between my legs.

Natércia was extremely strong and fast. But so was I. And besides, I was taller and bigger – my arms had allowed me to easily wrap around her and give her the "boa's hug" breaking her ribs once; and her little arms had had a harder time trying to do the same.

But what ultimately decided the fight, was the fact that I was much more experienced than Nat. My fighting skills were better and I had been in many more personal fights than she had.

And I had anticipated her movements.

And that was why, a little over an hour after we started fighting, I found myself on top of her, with both my hands around Nat's neck. And I crushed it, right before I pulled her head from the rest of her body.

I immediately moved away of her body, and I stood there, watching Natércia. And that was when I saw both her head and body immediately kind of melting into two blood pounds in the floor.

If I could, if I was still a human, I would have thrown up right then and there.

However, the only thing I could do was fall to the floor, dropping to my knees.

Nat was dead. She had been killed. _I _had killed her. No. She had been _murdered_, not killed. And _I _had been the one. _I had murdered Natércia. _

Fuck.

Ocella's death had been a hard blown to me. He had left an emptiness as no other. But Ocella had also given me much pain in my first couple of centuries. And even thought I now saw vampirism as a gift, Ocella had been the one who had actually killed me and had taken me away from my parents, my brothers and sisters, my wife and my children. I had had as many good times with Ocella as bad times with him. He had given me much joy. But he had hurt me many times as well.

But not Natércia. With Natércia, all times had been good times. Yes, we had had to stay away from time to time, but whenever we were together it was always awesome. But those times were gone now. My friend, my companion. She was dead. Because of me. I knew I would never have with Sookie the same things that I had had with Nat. Nat and I had a history together. A huge history together. Natércia was my companion. She was like me. We were the same. I was myself with her. And I was desperate without her. Completely and fuckingly desperate without her.

Thirty minutes later, I was still kneeling on the floor, looking at Nat's remains and just feeling alone, desperate and empty inside. And it fucking hurt. It hurt. I had killed my best friend and my long time companion. And what had been the reason? The sorrow in me was immense and it was clouding my judgment. And I was starting to feel really angry as well.

Natércia had lied to me. She had fucking lied to me for eight centuries. She had pretended to love me, to be my friend when it was all a lie. Our life together had been a fucking lie. And I wouldn't let anyone else fucking lie to me. Fuck! I was extremely angry and I wanted to tear the world apart. I wanted to scream and to tear down everything so I would waste some of the anger in me. I was entirely too worked-up.

So I got up and I continued destroying the little furniture that had survived the fight. I was right into the middle of breaking the living room big couch into two parts, when Pam and Sookie entered the house.

I was so angry and desperate that I thought I could kill them both if I wasn't careful. They shouldn't be here. Why the hell were they here? They _really _shouldn't be here. I was still having aftershocks from the fight's bloodlust. And those, combined with my anger and despair, had made me into something really dangerous. Killing them would be easy and some instinctual, hurting, monster part inside of me was telling me to do it. Actually, that monster part inside me was screaming that if they wouldn't leave me alone, then I should just kill them. Instantly.

I had a moment of clarity and I managed to scream at them both, while I pointed towards the door. "Get the fuck out of my house!" And just one second after that, when I realized that they were still standing there, glaring at me, I yelled in my second instant of lucidity, trying to calm down that monster in me, "NOW!"

Pam felt me. She was my child, and she could feel my blood. She knew I had really meant it when I had told them to leave. Besides, I had given her an order, a maker's command. She immediately turned around and left the living-room and the house. I heard a car door opening and closing, but then no motor turned on. So Pam would wait in her parked car, on my driveway. I guessed she could do that. I had only told her to get out of the house. The driveway was out of the house, so to speak.

On the other hand, without the blood bond, Sookie couldn't feel me. She had heard me _screaming_ at the two of them, but she hadn't _felt_ my seriousness about it. And so, she walked a step in my direction. I quickly wondered why the hell, Sookie would never obey me. Nat had lied to me. And now Sookie was disobeying me. And I wasn't thinking straight. Fuck! She took another step towards me. I smelled William Compton in her. And I fucking hated it.

And the monster in me, repeated his previous mantra, "_Kill her._"

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**You know something? It was damn hard to write such a fight-scene. And I sure hope that it was realistic enough for you and that you've enjoyed reading this chapter. And do you want a small spoiler from next chapter? Sookie will **_**not **_**leave. She'll stay right where she is! :)**

"**Something For The Pain" is a song by Bon Jovi from their 1997 album "These Days". It charted at #39 on the top 40 mainstream charts and peaked at #8 on the UK Singles Chart. It was a regular song played on the "These Days" Tour but, like many songs on this album, has been played less since. However, recently this song surprisingly returned to the set lists and so far it has been a staple on The Circle Tour in 2010, usually in acoustic form. The music video for the song shows a teenager walking into a music store and heading to listen to some sample music. On the screen, it shows the band playing with other cast members singing the song in different scenarios. It ends with the teenager stealing a copy of the album "These Days". **


	45. Wanted, Dead or Alive

**I'm so glad that you seem to have enjoyed last chapter's fight scene. YAY! And now I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter as well :) Charhamblin's incredible beta-skills, as usual, were priceless! Oh, and kids: please stay away from this chapter! :) hehe! Cheers from Portugal everyone! Célia**

* * *

**Sookie "Wanted, Dead or Alive"**

"Sookie, we have to go," Pam said.

"Is the fight over?"

"I don't think so. I guess they are still fighting, but I'm not sure."

She wasn't sure? She _guessed_ that they were still fighting? What the hell?

Besides, I knew that Eric wouldn't want us near Shreveport if the fight was still going on. Actually, the whole point of staying at Jason's was for Pam, Liz and I to stay the hell away from Shreveport. And now she was telling me that she thought that they were still fighting, but that we had to go there?

I was absolutely sure that Eric would _not_ want us in Shreveport. And I was also sure that Pam knew it as well. But, despite that, I _did_ want to go. If there was a chance that Eric was injured, and needing me, I wouldn't need much convincing to leave. After all, I have never been known for my strong sense of self-preservation, right? But I didn't want to do something that Eric wouldn't want me to do. And Pam wouldn't want it, either.

And so I asked, "If they are still fighting, then why do we need to go?"

"Because Eric is feeling desperate. And because he is in pain. Badly."

Oh my God! Eric "desperate and in pain" probably meant that he had been badly hurt and that he thought that he would lose the fight. But… Well, I still remembered Eric's face and expression and his… well, I apologize for the vulgarity, but I still remembered Eric's _mother-fucker_ strong will-power when he fought those five fairies that had tried to kill me two and a half years before.

Back then, Eric had attacked _unarmed_, five really strong fairies. And he had single-handedly killed three of them before they had managed to hurt him gravely. But even when he was drenched in his own blood, and losing all this strength, he kept hanging on to one of the fairies' swords. He was prepared to die, and he probably thought that he would die too (I had never seen Eric so pale as on that night, because he was losing so much blood). But even then, when all seemed hopeless, he hadn't looked desperate. Actually, he had looked quite accepting about the whole situation. And I also still remembered Eric's words about Brad and Tom, the two weres that had died that day. Eric had said something about theirs having been a good, brave death. And that they would have been proud of the way they had died. And I was sure that Eric still felt the same thing about… well, _honorable_ deaths. Including his own.

So… if Eric wasn't feeling desperate because he was afraid for his own life, then why would he be feeling that way? What the hell was going on in Shreveport?

"But are they still fighting?" I asked, trying to comprehend the whole situation.

"I… I…" Pam was moving her head from right to left, as if saying no with her head, "I don't know. I don't think he is but… I can still feel his bloodlust, as I felt until one minute ago. He's still… _driven_ to kill."

Okay. Well, not really _okay _but… There had been so many times when I hadn't understood either Eric or Pam. Or Bill, for that matter. Vampires sure did have their own, special way of feeling things, and of telling things. And most time, when I didn't understand them, I let it be. Because I knew that if I would ask what they meant, they would only repeat the same words and I would be at the same place as before, except that the vampire would be pissed off for my not-understanding.

But either way, I was glad to be going there. I wanted to go home. Bon Temps wasn't home anymore. Shreveport was. Eric's house was home. It was _my _home. And I wanted to go there, so I would know what had happened. So yes, Pam really didn't have to do much convincing because I would leave with her to Shreveport immediately.

And so, I left a note to Jason, in his kitchen, next to the coffee machine (my brother had the same caffeine addiction that I did) saying that I was leaving and that I would call in the morning because of Lizzie. At least, I _hoped_ that I would be able to call in the morning. I quickly went to Jason's kids' room, where Liz was sleeping, and I quietly kissed her cheek.

And then we left my car at Jason's and drove to Shreveport in Pam's car.

Pam's chatty mode had obviously ended when we left the house, and so we had a very quiet and tense drive. During the whole time I could only think about Liz and Eric. I hoped and prayed that Liz wouldn't lose her two fathers in a little less than a year. And I was so focused on how I would react if Eric was dead, that I hadn't even realized that Pam had already parked at our place, in our driveway. We had made in a little over 30 minutes the one-hour drive from Bon Temps.

I saw Pam turn off the key and the car stopped in silence. I was already opening the door or the car when I looked back at Pam and saw her closing her eyes and sniffing the air.

"Pam?"

She then opened their eyes and she looked at me. Pam's hand moved towards me and she touched my arm, right before she said, "I smell both their bloods. But Natércia's stronger."

Natércia's blood was stronger? Was it good or bad? "What do you mean by that?" I asked nervously.

"She's dead. Eric stands," she whispered.

Oh my God! Thank you God! Thank you! Pam had said that Natércia was dead. And Eric still stood. Oh, thank you God! I then closed my eyes and I listened around me. I could only feel our down the street neighbors' brains, as well as Pam's blank spot next to me. I focused on our house, and there was only one void in there. I immediately left the car and I ran to our door with Pam beside me.

I had some problems opening the door, because my hands were shaking too much for me to pick the house keys from my bag and open the door. But luckily Pam was just behind me and she took the keys from my hands and she opened the front door herself. She immediately entered the house, walked towards our living room. And, of course, I followed her.

And the first thing I noticed was the house's destruction. Most furniture was, at least partially, destroyed. And even the walls hadn't escaped what had happened there. It was as if in four or five places, something really hard had smashed there; almost as if a little car had drove into our wall. Yes, _a_ _car_. Even though I knew that it had to have been Eric or Natércia's bodies. Jesus! The whole room was a mess. It reminded me of the images of victims of huge natural disasters. And by "huge natural disasters", I meant _9.9-in-the-Richer's-scale-earthquake-kind-of_ huge natural disaster.

And that was when I first saw a big _sort-of_ bloody goo-pond on our living-room's floor. And a smaller one, close by. And I knew what it was. Yes, unfortunately I had already seen my fair share or dead-dead vampires' remains. And it was not "_unfortunately_ because I miss them" but rather "_unfortunately_ because I wish I hadn't been there on the first place", that is. Yes, first there had been Long Shadow's, and then Lorena's, and there was also the night when the former Arkansas King, Peter Threadgill, had been killed. And, of course, I saw many vampires' goo both in Dallas and after the bombing of Rhodes too. And recently, I had seen Eric's maker and his son's remains. And now, I was seeing Natércia's.

So yes, I knew what it was. I knew that it was a decaying vampire-body. Or rather, a decaying vampire-_former-_body, because it was already more liquid than solid. And kneeling close to the biggest part of Natércia's remains was Eric. And his expression and position reminded me of Ocella's face when he kneeled by the crumbling mass of flakes that had once been Alexei. And Eric seemed in pain. I felt sorry for him.

But, at the same time, when Pam and I walked into the living room, and I saw all of that, I also felt extremely glad, anxious, thankful and scared. All at the same time. I was glad that Eric had prevailed. But I was anxious to know how he would react to his friend's death. And, he had to not only deal with Natércia's death, but also with her death_ by_ _his own hands_. And I was also scared that he would perhaps think that it was entirely my fault. But above all, I was thankful that we would still have the chance of trying to put that all behind us, like we had done after the Fae attack, David's death and Ocella's episode.

But then Eric screamed at us to leave.

And Pam left.

And, apparently, she took the "glad", the "anxious" and the "thankful" feelings with her. Because in that moment I was just feeling "scared". More than that, I felt terrified. I _really_ felt terrified. But even worse than feeling terrified, was the fact that I was terrified _of Eric_. Why? Because, just like how before his body's position and his face's expression had reminded me of Ocella, now Eric's eyes reminded me of the eyes of Ocella's younger son. Yes, Eric's dark-blue rim and his pale blue and white rays in the iris of his eyes, reminded me of Alexei. And Eric's eyes had always been the exact _opposite _of Alexei's eyes. Eric's eyes had always calmed me; they had always showed me that he had a soul, no matter what the Fellowship of the Sun or other religious freaks said. Eric _had _a soul, a _good _soul; and his eyes had always been a window to that soul.

But not at that moment. Because right then and there, they were full of hatred and contempt. And I sure hoped that they wouldn't be showing me what his soul convened. Because at that moment, there was only odium and disdain in Eric's blue eyes. And for the first time _ever_, I saw the real vampire in Eric. And I was afraid of him. No, not _"him". _I was afraid of _"it"_, because Eric didn't have the eyes of a man, but rather an injured animal that would attack anyone who would get near him.

Okay, so now let's stop for a second so I can share my thoughts. And here's my theory: do you know how between two brothers, or two sisters or a brother and a sister, there's always one who is smarter than the other? Well, between me and Jason, I had always thought that I was the intelligent, shy one, and he was the dumb but popular one.

But guess what? I was wrong. Because I sure was stupid.

Why? Because there I was, in front of a menacing vampire, whose hatred eyes scared the hell out of me. And said vampire was screaming at me to go away. But what did I do? Well, I did what any stupid, brainless person would do. I walked _towards_ him.

"I said: LEEEAVE!" Eric screamed again.

But I, still stupid, gave another step.

Towards him. _Again_.

And Eric's eyes still showed the hate that I had seen before. But now I could also see in them quite a bit of the desperation that Pam had talked about before, when we were leaving Jason's house. Eric was really desperate. He had killed his best friend and he was probably having confused feelings about the whole thing.

And suddenly, I noticed that there were a few lines in Eric's forehead. It was like he was zooming in… _oh God, _me!

I had to do something or, at least, I had to say something. And I chose to speak, because I sure didn't know what to do then. And I started by saying his name. But apparently, I had chosen wrong (still stupid there!) because I had only managed the "Er" part of Eric's name when I felt him running towards me. And then, suddenly, he was _right there!_

Unconsciously, I took a step back. And then another, and another until my back hit against a partly destroyed wall. But then, in another second, or probably in even less than one second, Eric was right in front of me, again. He curved his back and the lowered his head right towards mine. It almost looked like he was going to kiss me, but his eyes showed no love. Quite the opposite, actually.

And then, he snarled at me, showing me his fangs while he kept closing the gap between our faces. I could even feel the cold skin from his nose touching my face, when he was doing a mix of sniffing me _and _intimidating me by scaring the hell out of me with his growling and his groaning.

_Oh. God._

I felt that my heart was beating a thousand times a second, and I could also feel a single tear escaping my left eye. I wondered what would happen to me. Would Eric kill me? Had the pain from killing Natércia made him so desperate that he would really kill me? And what would happen to Liz if I died? Would Eric still keep raising her? Would my daughter grow up with her mother's murderer?

I was thinking so many things all at the same time, that, in my mind, we had been in that position for at least half an hour. But, of course, it had only been a few seconds. A minute, at most.

And that was when I heard Pam outdoors, knocking on the door, and shouting at Eric for him to let her in. She screamed for him to take his order back, so she could get inside. But apparently, Eric didn't even hear her. He was only focused on growling at me.

And that was when I had enough. I _would not _be afraid of Eric. I _would not._ And so, raising my hand and pointing my finger at him, I almost screamed, "Eric! Snap out of it! Eric!", but when he _still _didn't react I started poking my finger in his chest, which only deepened his growl.

"I said: leave," he almost screamed at me. And he actually brought his face even closer to mine. Yes, angry, scary Eric was _right there._ However, I was still stupid because for some reason, and even though I was scared of him that way, I was still sure that Eric wouldn't harm me.

"I won't," I whispered facing him.

And then Eric immediately screamed a scaring "aarrght" before he punched the wall right at my left – I even felt some of the debris hitting my face.

"Why not?" he growled between his fangs.

"Because I'm your wife," I whispered again.

And there; I had said it. I had accepted my marriage with Eric. Seeing him that way, hurt and almost losing his mind because he had actually killed a close friend because of me, was the catalyst that made me recognize our status. And he needed me. So I would stay there with him because I trusted that he wouldn't hurt me; I believed that he would fight his basic instincts and his nature for me.

Eric's face moved slightly away from mine, and, still through his fangs, he said, "My wife."

"Your wife. I am _your_ wife. Eric, please, snap out of it," I almost begged while I tried to hug him.

But then, all of a sudden, Eric pushed me against the wall again and asked, screaming, "So why the fuck do you smell of another vampire? Why the hell do you smell like Compton?" Bill's last name almost echoed through the house because of Eric's scream. However, he didn't allow me to answer his question, because he then moved his hand towards my throat.

I looked at him, and I still saw Alexei's eyes in his face. And then, I suddenly realized that I was lucky that Eric's hand hadn't squeezed nor broken my neck, thus killing me. And besides, he was still allowing some air through my throat.

Glass half full, instead of half empty – that was me, alright.

Yes, I was pushed against a wall by an angry, mad vampire, but he hadn't killed me. In fact, I was very much alive because I could still focus on everything around me, including Eric. And when I looked again at Eric's face in front of me, I still had the presence of mind of noticing that he had dried blood all over his face from the nose down. It was obvious that during his fight with Natércia, Eric had broken his nose (already healed, of course) and that it had bled. And because he was snarling _right there in my face_, he was _really _close to me. And that was when I managed to slightly open my mouth and move my tongue. And then I licked, from his upper lip, some of his dried blood. I then forced my mouth to produce some saliva and I tried to swallow that dried blood.

Then, all of a sudden, and immediately after I had done it, Eric opened his hand and he dropped me. And, obviously, I was still unsure about everything that had happened, so I fell to the ground, on my knees, and somehow, I kind of I twisted my ankle in the process.

So, I was on my own living-room's floor, grabbing my twisted ankle, and trying to straighten my back that had been forced against the wall with a lot of strength… by Eric. And that was when I started crying, which made me cough non-stop.

After what was probably ten or fifteen minutes, my breathing had returned to normal. Or, I guess, to as normal as it could be, concerning that situation. And it was then that I _really _contemplated what that happened.

_Eric had almost tried to kill me._ Granted, he hadn't squeezed his hand, but he had sort of attacked me. _Eric had attacked me. _And so, I started crying all over again. And I honestly can't say for how long. Although I think that it was probably for a long time.

But, eventually, I calmed down. I guess that there were no more tears in me. I had wasted all the tears that I could cry in one night. And that was when I saw the vampire on the other side of the room. He was also sitting on the floor. And he was looking at me as if I was the Empire State Building and that was his first trip to New York, or something.

"I am sorry," he whispered. And when I didn't answer him, nor I showed any indication that I would, he whispered again, "Please do not be afraid of me." But I still didn't move. I just kept staring at him, just as he had been staring at me before, while I coughed and I cried.

Again, I don't know how much time passed, but after a while, the vampire whispered that he was sorry again. But I reacted the same way I had reacted before. I reacted by _not-reacting _at all. I didn't move, nor did I speak.

Until I screamed because, suddenly, the vampire had appeared at my side. And then, quite intelligently, I _finally_ did what my self-preservation instincts told me to do and I moved back towards the wall. And YAY! I was intelligent again; because instead of moving _towards _the vampire, I was then trying to move _away _from him.

So _that_ was what it took to increase my IQ: being almost attacked by a vampire! Good to know.

"Please. I was not me. I am so sorry. Please. I cannot stand that you are afraid of me. Please," he said. And the vampire kept repeating those words to me, time after time.

But the words were lost on me. They did not matter. However, despite that, the vampire never stopped whispering, in a sort of soothing way, that he was sorry and that he had been out of his mind before, and begging me to stop being afraid of him.

But I was still afraid of him. I was _terrified_ of him. And I knew that because of the tiny bit of dried blood that I had tasted from him, the vampire could feel my fear, not just smell it.

And then I heard Pam again, for the first time since I had fallen to my knees on the floor. And I heard her yelling pretty much the same things that she had been screaming before. And for one moment, I really wished that he would let her in. Because she was Pam. She was my friend. But it was as if the vampire, _Eric_, didn't even listen to her. Because he just didn't react to her screams and her knocks on the door. He only kept looking and whispering at me.

So I turned off what he was telling me too. If he wouldn't hear Pam's screams, I sure didn't have to hear his whisperers. And again, we stood there, in the same position and doing the same thing, over and over again. I kept trying to move away from him while he kept staring and moving his lips, though I wasn't hearing him anymore.

"Lover, please…" he whispered finally.

And that, for some reason, I did hear.

And you know what? My stupidity came back. Because when he called me lover, I truly recognized him as Eric. He was _my Eric_. And that was when I saw the sorrow and repenentment in his eyes where before I had seen hatred.

"I was not me. I was out of my mind. And I am sorry. Please, I am so sorry…" he continued whispering.

And I… I _believed_ him.

And he was… he was Eric. And Eric had followed me. He had gone to me. _Twice._ I had run away to Tennessee from Eric and he had given me the space and time that I had asked him. But when I was kidnapped, when I needed him, Eric had risked his own life (and the life of his child and a few more vampires) in the Fae War for me. He had offered me his blood, which I declined. And then, he let me decide again, and he continued giving me the space I needed at the time. And then, a few years later, I was in danger _again_. And, _again_, Eric risked his life for me. Even though he knew that I was married to a were-bear. And he forgave me and accepted both me and my daughter in his life again. With open arms. And he had been such a good friend, and such a good husband and such a good father... Yes, Eric had been pretty much perfect for the previous two and a half years.

Would that entitle him to "a couple of out-of-his-mind-moments"?

"Lover, I was not me," he repeated.

I looked again at his eyes. And they were Eric's eyes again. And I could really see the grief and need to atone in his eyes… in the dark-blue rim around his iris and in the even mix of pale blue and white rays of his eyes.

"I am so sorry…" he said again.

And I… And I both believed _and_ forgave him. "Will you give me your blood?" I asked in an almost inaudible voice.

And even before you ask me about it, let me just answer you that yes, I did remember what exchanging blood with a vampire would do. I still remembered what a blood-bond was. And I still remembered it, at that moment. And I _consciously_ asked Eric for his blood. Because I wanted for us to connect, to _be connected_, again.

He immediately bit his wrist and offered it to me.

And I drank.

At the first swallow, my throat pain that I hadn't previously noticed I had, disappeared. And by the third, both my ankle and my back were healed already. But I kept drinking Eric's blood until his wrist wound closed.

And then he hugged me. Eric then kissed my hair, my forehead, my nose, my eyes and then my hair again and so on in between his words: "I can feel you. I can feel you now. And I know you've forgiven me already. I can feel you. You forgave me." His hands the grabbed my face and made me look at him. "Thank you. And be sure that I love you. You mean the world to me. I'd die without you. I really love you." I wasn't feeling him yet. It would take more of Eric's blood in me but his eyes were truthful. "I love you," He repeated.

He loved me. He. Loved. Me.

And more than that. He was mine. He. Was. Mine.

He was mine, just as I was his. And I wanted him. By God, I wanted him so much. And I wanted him right then and there. Right in the middle of our destroyed furniture, and right next to that… well, that _bitch _Natércia's rotting body.

And… hell… I don't know what had gotten into me. Maybe it had been the waiting at Jason's for something to happen, and for a disclosure to Eric and Natércia's meeting. Maybe it was Eric's attack and my fear that had made me think about life. About being alive and just… enjoy. _Carpe diem, _you know? Or, maybe it was Eric's blood. I just didn't know. I just knew that I wanted him. And that I _would_ have him, just as he would have me. Because in what was, undoubtly, my most un-Sookie-like feeling ever, I wanted to be possessed by him. I wanted him to scream that I was his, and I wanted Eric to just… claim me.

And so I grabbed him. And then I kissed him. And when I kissed him, I bit his lips until I drew blood, right before I moved my tongue across his fangs, piercing it. Eric's hands moved from my upper back, to my lower back and then my butt, and he grabbed it while he growled in a cavernous but still sexy way. And that was when both my hands grabbed Eric's hair and I just hold to him, kissing him as deep and as ferociously as I could.

"What are you…?" Eric started asking as soon as I left his lips for a second so I could breathe. But I did not even allowed him to finish his sentence, because I kept kissing him. And during my kiss, I cut my tongue again on his fangs and I opened his lips again with my own teeth. And, during those minutes, we kept kissing, while both our blood got mixed in the process. And yes, I know that it sounds gross. But what can I say? I guess that my un-Sookie moment had continued, because I only saw that bloodied kiss as something incredible sexy. And I swear, it was the sexiest moment of my whole life.

But then, suddenly, Eric grabbed me by my shirt and coat and he suddenly stood and pulled me, almost violently, back over the small couch, catching me totally by surprise. His eyes were fixed into mine, and we stared at each other for a few seconds, before his iris moved from my eyes, to my lips, my neck and finally my chest. Because of my nervousness and because I was… well, _very_ sexually excited, I was breathing with deep inhales and exhales, and so my chest was moving up and down very quickly. And Eric looked almost hypnotized by it.

I then opened the first two buttons of Eric's shirt and that snapped him out of his staring at my chest, because he immediately looked back to my eyes while he ripped his shirt off his own body. I could see his white t-shirt and the blond hairs on his chest peeking through it.

I felt a thrill of excitement, as I automatically tried to pull him towards me, while he quickly yanked the top of my coat halfway down my arms, efficiently trapping me in my own garment. The strength and expertise of Eric's moves instinctively told me I was dealing with a 1000 year old vampire. And one full of lust. But unlike earlier that night, that thought only exited me and I wasn't scared any more.

However, his stare at me, his eyes, with the dark-blue rim around the iris, and the even mix of blue and white rays, were as hypnotic to me as my breathing chest had been for him. And I froze, not daring to move.

And that was when I watched as both his hands went to the buttons of my blouse and opened them, and as I felt the fabric give and collapse into my skin, I felt as sensual as ever. Eric's eyes, his lust over me, made me feel as sensual as ever. And then there was a pause, just before Eric slowly opened my silk of my blouse like a man unveiling a meal, and exposing my chest and my bra. Eric's entire face was still in shadow, because only the hall's lamp was still turned on (either Nat or Eric had destroyed the living room's lamps), but I could feel his eyes on me, taking me in, and that was when I felt his hand on my breasts, first one, then the other. I felt the strength in his fingers, the tension as he fought the urge to crush them in his hands, but still his gentleness, and that made me bold. I summoned all my strength and I tried to free my arms from the coat again because I wanted to touch him too, just as he was touching me. But Eric held me with embarrassing ease, as if he was consumed with my breasts and hardly even aware of my struggles.

Eric's intense glare and his huge figure would probably scare everyone else. And he also seemed terribly focused, but yet I was sure that he wouldn't ever hurt me. It was something else. Eric was almost… worshipful.

And suddenly his hand left my breasts and slid back up to my throat and he pushed my face gently up and to the side, as if to examine his previous grab of my neck. But his blood had already healed everything and I was already alright. And, apparently, Eric was satisfied with my recovery as well, because he soon stopped staring at my neck and instead started kissing it over and over again. And, just like it had happened before, I suddenly couldn't control my breathing, and my breasts began to heave as I began to pant and almost hyperventilate.

"Hush," Eric whispered, his lips right next to my ear, "I'm still not done with you."

He then removed his hand from the back of my neck, where it had been while he had kissed it, and his fingers slid down _again_ over my chest to my breast. Eric traced the edge of my bra over my mounds and I could only lay absolutely still. My attention was totally drawn to the soft touch of his fingers on my skin. Eric then repeated the motion, his time sliding his finger inside the cups, into the warm space between my flesh and my underwear. And Eric's cold hand, felt even colder because I was almost feverish in desire for him.

I shivered.

But Eric didn't care about it, and he kept touching me.

He grasped the top edge of the cup and slowly slid it slowly down over my right breast, as if ejecting a piece of fruit from its peel, apparently fascinated by its slow exposure. I tried to control myself as the fabric dragged over my nipple but it was maddening. I wanted to touch him _so much_, but my arms were still pinned by my coat, and so I just groaned with impotent anger and extreme desire. My groan brought Eric's eyes from my breast to my eyes again, and he smiled at me for a second, before the pulled down the other cup of my bra, so that both my breasts spilled free. His head then came down and his tongue touched my nipple.

And… _OH. MY. GOD. _

Quite uncharacteristically for him, Eric was breathing as well. And while his breath was on my flesh, his tongue was circling my nipple in slow, wet circles. _Oh Jesus._ I just wanted to open my legs and feel him in me. I had never felt as sexually exited as in that moment. Not even in past times with Eric. I groaned again. And again. But just like before, he just didn't care, and he kept his ministrations. Eric's lips then formed a ring around my areola and he sucked, slowly forging himself on the warmth and tenderness of my breasts.

And I just… I didn't even know _what_ to feel.

Because I was feeling _way _too much.

And Eric had such an uncanny sense of just _where_ and _how_ to touch me, as if _he _was the telepath; as if _he _could read my mind. In fact, right from the beginning, since that first time when an amnesiac-Eric entered my bathtub at Gran's, Eric had had a strange kind of physical intimacy that spoke directly to my body. And the way he lingered at my breasts – sucking, licking, teasing, catching my nipples in his teeth and fangs, was far more than I could stand, and I started saying his name over and over again, as a mantra. I wanted him to get on with it. And _for the love of God_, _now!_

But he didn't.

Instead, he kept teasing me.

One nipple, then the other – the slow circles, the fluttering tongue, the long, lurid licks, and finally sucking my breast into his mouth and biting and sucking my blood. And that was when I heard his urgent, animal sounds of pleasure, and I felt his urgent, kneading hand.

And when I thought that I couldn't stand the stimulation to my nipples anymore, Eric began to kiss and lick my breasts from armpit to sternum, planting soft bites, somehow not breaking my skin, on the full undersides while he rubbed his rough, manly face on the upper slopes, holding my arms back and making me press myself harder into his mouth.

"Oh! Oh!" I mumbled, while I raised my head, but still all I could see was the top of his blond head and his strong hands holding my arms.

But suddenly, Eric let go of one of my arms and slid his hand up under my skirt, inside of my leg, as if to show me that there were any number of ways to broach my defenses, and that if I couldn't stand his touch on my breasts anymore, that there were still other places for him to touch and kiss. Or _torture_, as it seemed like.

And that assault on my upper legs, extremely close to my … hoo-hah place was also too much, and it took the whole thing to another level, and again I tried to fight to free my arms. But it was a strangely tense and silent struggle. I could only hear my labored panting and struggling for breath and occasional groan of sexual frustration; the soft creak and rustle of my coat on the couch; the lewd suck of his mouth on my flesh; and his hot animal growl of lust that gave me a weird, lewd thrill, as if I was watching myself be devoured.

And my struggling to get my arms free, obviously, got me nowhere.

But suddenly, Eric stopped and straightened up.

He was on his knees next to the couch where my legs couldn't get at him, and he had one hand still holding the back of my coat, but lightly then; and as he straightened up his face disappeared into the shadows again.

And I lay there nervously, confused and mad at my feeling of anticlimax. I looked down at myself, and I saw that my clothes were a mess, with my blouse open and bra down, my breasts red and chaffed and my skirt up around my thighs.

But suddenly, Eric's face moved again, and the hall's lamp's light allowed me to see his eyes again, and my confusion disappeared. Eric wasn't stopping. Not at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite. And he had only paused, _temporarily_, to admire me.

"You are perfect," he whispered.

I smiled at him. And I was about to tell him that I also thought that he was perfect too, when Eric's hand reached out and slid up my leg under my skirt and he touched the soft skin next to my… girl parts again. And that was when I cried out with a sudden and renewed sense of excitement and sexiness.

And suddenly, I realized that Eric had taken his hand from my coat, and so I was able to take the damn thing, which had been preventing me to touch him back. And as soon as I freed my arms, I hugged him with all my strength.

But as soon as I touched him, Eric took his hand from my legs and he laid his weight back on top of me, while he reached behind my head with his left hand, caught my right wrist and held it easily, leaving me defenseless to his kisses all over again. He then grabbed my other wrist and pinned it as well in his left hand. He still had one hand free to plunder my body and his mouth returned to my naked breasts as if his previous work hadn't been finished yet.

"Relax now," he said, "just relax..."

With his weight upon me, I could feel the rock-hard stalk of his… well, his cock stabbing against my hip like a cold chisel. "Taken" was the word that flashed into my mind. I was going to be "taken" by Eric; just I had wanted from the beginning.

"Eric…" I cried out. And I just didn't know if I was begging him to stop or to never stop at all. Nevertheless, it didn't matter. Because "Eric" was really the only word that I could whisper, because it was the only word that my brain could muster.

However, I still tried to writhe away from him again. I wanted to be free to touch Eric back. But he had me so securely pinned with his one arm that he took his other hand from beneath my skirt and casually finished unbuttoning my blouse down to my waist, taking his time, confident that I wouldn't want it any other way.

And that was when Eric began to sensually caress my bare stomach, dragging his fingers over the sensitive flesh and making my muscles clench. He then slid his hands down over my hips; he found the button on the side of my skirt, opened it and pulled the zipper down. He pulled the skirt open and pushed it down till it was below my panties. And then, his hand began to graze teasingly over the bare skin of my thighs and my panty-covered mound. Over, and over again, he kept caressing me. Tickling me. Coaxing me into arousal, as if he had all the time in the world.

And _Jesus Christ_!

The feel of his fingers on me, the ease with which he touched me and the casual way his hand toyed at the juncture between fabric and flesh made me start to throb with physical desire. And that was when I pushed and heaved and bucked my hips. And you can _bet_ that my gyrations were as sexual and suggestive as they could be. And meanwhile, his kissing and sucking of my breasts had never stopped, but my attention had shifted to the area between my legs where I was even hungrier and needier and the feelings ran deeper and harder to control.

I was throbbing with shameful and painful need.

I wanted Eric as I had never wanted anyone or anything in my entire life.

I wasn't thinking about Pam just outside the door. I wasn't thinking about my destroyed living-room. I wasn't even thinking about Liz waking up without her mother at Jason's. No. There was nothing else in the world at that moment. Nothing but Eric. Just Eric. His lust for me. And my lust for him.

And that was when he bit his wrist again and he put it next to my mouth for me to drink. And I did it without a second doubt about what I was doing. And as always, Eric's blood tasted metallic, and sweet, and old, and sensual, and… And I didn't know what else. He tasted like everything else, and like anything else, at the same time.

When his wrist wound closed, Eric's head moved towards mine and he laid the mother and father of all kisses on me. Wow. Just: wow!

"I want you," I whispered when he moved his god-like lips away from me again, "right now."

But he seemed to be in no hurry to fuck me though. And disregarding my words, he kept playing with my belly and hips, until he slid his fingers under the waist of my panties and reached down. He was teasing me, playing in my pubic hair. And he was teasing me until my pussy couldn't stand the need for his touch; until I was sure that I would die if I didn't feel his hand there against my empty hunger. I groaned, and then I closed my eyes in frustration and anger. And that was when his hand left my panties, pushed my skirt all the way down, made me open my legs. And he then touched my panties again, but that time, from below.

"Look at me, lover," he said. And, of course, I opened my eyes again, and I looked at him. "You _really_ are perfect," he added one second later.

His fingers then pressed the moist crotch of my panties up against my sensitive flesh and I bit my lip to stifle a cry of fulfillment. My body arched and quivered in response. And just like if it was our first time, his fingers seemed curious and fascinated with me. But it was obvious that he already knew me and my body because the places Eric touched were _so right_… The pressure. The strokes. It was perfect.

And in spite of all the furious passion of his mouth on my breasts, his fingers on me were like those of a fearful boy — curious, worshipful, and yet quick to learn which spots made me respond with a quick jerk of my hips or a little moan, a sharp intake of breath or subtle shiver — a soft massage of my labia, a teasing finger sliding up and down my slit or probing into my opening, gliding in circles over my clit or pressing firmly and rhythmically against it, or occasionally taking my entire pussy in his hand and squeezing in an act of mannish possession that touched something deep and primitive inside me and made me want to cling to him.

_God! How I wanted him!_

I was aching of pure sexual tension, a delicious sexual tightening that both relaxed me and made me tenser, at the same time.

And suddenly, I finally, _finally,_ felt him moving the crotch of my panties to the side and I spread my legs even more for him. I was hungering for a kiss, and as if he had heard my mind, Eric _did_ move towards my face again, and he kissed me again, while I felt his fingers still teasing me. But suddenly, without moving his left hand from my pinned wrists, and his right one from the middle of my legs, he did move his lips from my mouth to my breasts again.

_Jesus Christ! _

Was Eric trying to torture me?

I wanted him so much. But despite my whispering of his name, and my begging that he'd let me touch him, he just kept kissing and teasing me while I could only lay in the couch like a half-naked rag doll.

And with my panties out of the way, the intimacy of his touch was even more intense. Flesh on flesh. All our secrets revealed. And I knew that I was in the hands of a relentless master who played me like a fine violin, bringing forth high trills of thrilling pleasure and low, rich tones of soul-shuddering desire. That old, shadowy vampire was the maestro and I was the instrument, and I had no more control or responsibility than a violin has in the hands of a virtuoso. He played me. And I soared with sexual music, and meanwhile the somehow hot, despite its coldness, animal throbbing of his hard cock against my hip was like wild obscene metronome, setting the tempo, urging me on, higher and higher.

And he insisted. He kept going. And I was almost there. And during that whole time, my hips kept moving, while I panted and gasped through my teeth.

All of a sudden, my orgasm rumbled down upon me, like a big, fiery, incandescent, blinding wave, something selfish and glorious and all for me. And that was when I half screamed, half moaned "ohh's" after "ohh's" because that was the only sound that I could muster. I immediate arched my back, thrusting myself up and opening my legs obscenely. Yes, that was completely un-Sookie-like, but I just didn't care. I brought my knees up. My toes were curling up in my boots, as pleasure gushed inside me.

And during that whole time, Eric never stopped his touches. He stayed with me, right through my orgasm, somehow knowing when to ease up, when to back off and slow down so that the insistent stimulation became the soothing caresses of comfort. And when I had calmed down sufficiently, when my shuddering and spasming had stopped and I had, at last, opened my eyes again, I saw Eric on his knees, his face bisected by a sharp diagonal shadow, smiling at me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, whispering.

And when I moved my head, in an obvious "yes" sign, he then took off his t-shirt and started pulling down the zipper of his jeans. He quickly took the trousers off too and then Eric reached down and hooked his thumbs into the waist band of his white boxer shorts and peeled them down till his cock and balls spilled over the top and hung there. He was impressive and, obviously, erect, and it made me shamefully proud to see how hard he was for me. He had a thin triangle of hair that led up to his navel, like a symbol of a beast turning into man.

I still couldn't see his face easily, with only the dim light from the hall. But with him on his knees and with me half laying on the couch, half off the couch, he was at the perfect height, and I just knew that his lips would be with his trademark smirk and grin.

Eric then helped me out of my opened shirt and he clasped open my bra, so I could take it off, while I pushed my tangled hair back from my face.

I then raised my knees, while he grabbed my right ankle. His hand was like a steel clamp. I could even feel Eric's fingers through the leather of my boot, unmovable. And suddenly, he was between my thighs, and I felt him slowly entering me, while Eric's other hand pushed my knee almost against my shoulder, totally opening me to him.

And he was _so deep_…

It felt _so right_…

Eric's big, heavy dick kept on bumping against me, as if battering against it. And somehow, I suddenly felt Eric's hand on the back of my panties, tugging so hard my hips jerked into the air, and then pulling again until the panties ripped and then tore completely, part of them sliding down below my right knee and the rest hanging like a useless, shredded garter on my left thigh.

And I don't know why, but the ripping of my panties excited me even more. Those were my good panties, my favorite pair, and Eric had torn them to pieces as if that meant nothing. As if they were his. And if _I_ was his.

Eric's mouth moved again from my breasts to my face, and he kissed me again, though never stopping moving in and out of me. And suddenly, his left hand released my wrists. My right hand immediately grabbed his hair, and my left one clung to his shoulder like he was my floating device and I was in the middle of an ocean.

Eric then started kissing my neck. And that position put his neck at my mercy as well. And I bit him again, even though I didn't draw blood that time – his neck's skin was way thicker than his lips. But I knew that Eric had enjoyed it nonetheless, because I immediately felt the hand on the ankle of my boot push it even harder. And with his other hand, he hold onto my shoulder, right before he rocked forward and the naked crown of his dick touched the bare lips of my pussy, while his forehead touched mine.

And then he stopped.

But why would he?

My right hand left Eric's hair, and I enveloped his upper body with both my arms. His muscles were like marble. And I quickly arched my back as much as I could, opening myself to him. And that was when he slithered into me again, with the immutability of fate itself, a power stronger than what we had wanted or hadn't wanted.

We were one. And we would always be one.

And I wanted him _so much_…

I then felt Eric slid into me again, and again, and again. And Eric was right there. He was deep. He was merciless. He was perfect. And I was filled with him, entirely with him, completed by him.

Eric then pushed into me and left it there, stopping again, but that time inside of me, making me almost choke on his fullness. And then he hung over me, breathing deep and gasping with pleasure for a long, long, moment. A few seconds later, I felt him throbbing inside me. But he was still holding still. And then the strangest thing happened. Because I swear that I felt the beat of his heart inside my body, hot and excited.

Until he relented.

His strength pulled back like an ebbing wave and he slid it slowly out so I could breathe again, and then as if acting with deliberate cruelty, he pushed it back into me again. _Incredibly slowly. _And Eric did that several times, until finally, when that worshipping but savage, slow spearing had taken all the fight and resistance out of me, he began to fuck me. I don't know what else to call it, but… fuck me. And I could do was to hold unto his shoulders while I felt his long, sure, fulfilling strokes, as if savoring every millimeter of me.

And I don't know how much longer after he had started, I suddenly felt his tensing. And Eric actually trembled and he shivered, right before I heard his open-mouthed groan.

My arms suddenly left his upper back, and I threw my hands back over my head, exposing my breasts to him. And I didn't need him to pin my wrists that time. I was the one who wanted to be on display for him. And Eric, as expected, fell again upon my breasts like a slavering dog in an orgy of bestial carnality, sucking, squeezing, and biting.

Holy _Mary, Joseph and Jesus! Holy God! Holy… whatever!_

Eric's manhood was right where I craved for it, and he was kissing my breasts again. It was like he was famished, starving for me. And I felt that bone deep, subhuman primitive masculinity ravishing my flesh. Taking without asking because he knew I wanted it. I _needed_ it. And Eric kept fucking me. Filling me. And that was when I felt again Eric's animal ferocity, his vampiriness, just as he bit into my neck and my second orgasm started.

I couldn't scream. I couldn't even breathe. I couldn't make a sound as I felt him shove deep, mashing my butt against the couch and grinding his pubic bone against my clit, while he bit me and drank from me. And then, as soon as his lips left my neck, I grabbed his head, I moved it towards my mouth, and I kissed his mouth again. And right when I bit him, and I start drinking again from his wound on his lips, Eric then made a strangled and almost hurtful sound in his throat as I felt him jerk inside me, as he orgasmed as well.

He was hugging me, while I hugged him back. And we just lay there, floating for a long, eternal instant before returning once again to the reality. Eric then moved out of me, and hesat on the couch before pulling me to his lap.

"I'm so sorry for everything, Sookie," he whispered, before he added, "and I'm incredibly grateful that I have you in my life. I love you."

I smiled.

It would take me almost three months to tell him that I loved him back, though I had never stopped loving him. But just as I had given him some time when I had come back to Shreveport, he would also give me those three months until I was ready to tell him those words back.

I saw his eyes becoming red, and I knew that even though Eric would never cry, he was trying his best to prevent the tears from falling.

I smiled again.

And then I didn't kiss my "kind of husband". I did kiss, however, my husband.

And in that moment, during his amazing kiss, I could only think that if he had managed to overcome his most basic instincts earlier that night, and if I had managed to forgive his unthinkable reaction, and on top of everything else that we had overcome together, then it only meant one thing: we _did_ belong together.

And I wanted him. I didn't care if he was a vampire. I didn't care about his past. I wanted him, dead or alive. And right then and there, I was absolutely sure that I'd stay with Eric until I died.

And maybe, even after that.

* * *

**So, after more than 200.000 words and six months later, this story is almost-almost at its end. And I swear: never, not even in my wildest dreams, I would have thought that I'd write this much for this long (and in English!). But, at any rate, I thank you for reading this far. And I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, and the sex scene! It was my first time trying to write something a little more explicit… and now I'm **_**soooooo **_**embarrassed because of all the sexy smut… ^_^ and _sooooooo _anxious to hear your thoughts about it...!**

**Team Jane suggested it once, and she was right. I had to use "Wanted, Dead or Alive" as a title here because it really is an awesome song. The song's title pays homage to Jon Bon Jovi's admiration for Old West heroes, and how he identifies with them as being hated. During an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Jon said he got the inspiration for the song early one morning when he couldn't sleep while riding in a tour bus. The "lifestyle of every rock band" was similar to that of outlaws in that each was, "a young band of thieves, riding into town, stealing the money, the girls, and the booze before the sun came up."**


	46. Always

**So… I was so anxious to hear your thoughts about it and YAY! I'm so glad you've enjoyed last chapter's over-4000-words-of lemons. :) And thank you for your reviews. All of them meant a lot to me…! I can clearly see a positive evolution since the first time I posted to these last chapters, and I owe that progress to all the feedback I got. And I sure hope that you've enjoyed this "ride". I certainly did. Besides, I want to thank Charhamblin again for her ****AWESOME**** help – she rocks!**

**Anyway, this is it. This is the last chapter – well, it's more of an epilogue of sorts. In fact, chapter 45 was really the "last" official chapter. But because whenever I read something or whenever I watch a movie or a TV-show, I always want to know what would happen "next", I wrote these four tiny-peeps into their future. So, without further ado, here's the last chapter of "These Days". Hugs from Portugal, Célia**

* * *

**Eric**

Sookie woke me up before sunset. She smelled particularly nice, and of all those women's products and I knew that she had taken her time with her hair and make-up even before I opened my eyes. I felt her body half on top of mine, and half on the bed. And I could also feel her lips on my cheek, giving it silent, small kisses.

I then mumbled something that was probably no more that "humnpf" while I moved my hand to her lower back, and I started trying to kiss her neck. The day's stupor wasn't allowing me much freedom of movement, so I wasn't probably doing much yet, but I _could_ feel Sookie's body temperature slightly rising with each of my kisses.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving now," she whispered in my ear.

"Hum?"

"I'm leaving. Tonight is Jason's future wife's bachelorette's party. Remember? We talked about it?" she said while she started taking my hands of her back and trying to get out of the bed.

Right… Her brother was getting married _again_ in a week. And because he hadn't discarded his right to a bachelor's party (his sixth), his bride-to-be had decided that she had the same right. And so, she had invited some women to a dinner party. Sookie included, obviously. "Humm-hum…" I nodded, smiling against her neck, before I licked it from bellow her chin to her ear.

"Eric," she said, still trying to get away from my hold, "stop it! I gotta go now. I have to drive all the way to Bon Temps, and I still have to go and pick out her lingerie present at Tara's." Sookie sort of giggled and then she added, whispering "I'll make it up to you tomorrow night."

But I didn't want to wait, so I just kept hugging and kissing her, while I tried to bring her body on top of mine. A few minutes later, though, my efforts hadn't yet convinced her to skip the damn bachelorette's party and she said, "I'm not sure if I'll spend the night at Jason's or if I'll drive back tonight. I guess it depends on how late the dinner party will end."

"One more reason for you to stay right here for a little longer," I said, keeping my hold on her. Sookie's movements trying to leave my embrace were having the exact opposite reaction from me that she had wanted. And I was much more awake now, because of it. Especially my lower half. I was very much awake there. Not to mention, less willing to let her go.

She then moved her mouth to my face, and she kissed me. And I really thought that I'd get lucky when she started melting against me and biting my lips. But, sneaky as she was, that was only a ploy to distract me. And it worked, because suddenly, she was still on the bed, but we were no longer touching, because she had moved to her side. I guess that there would be no "adult time", as Sookie used to call it, for us that night.

I slightly got up, and kind of sat with my back to the headboard.

"I really have got to go, now," she said. And that was when I really looked at her for the first time that night. She had her hair down, but she had straightened it, and as I had smelled before, she had used some make-up on her eyes. She was dressed in some dark-blue trousers and a lovely white shirt and there was a light-grey and blue scarf in her lap (I guess that she had taken it off from her neck to wake me up and I smiled inside at that detail). But the best part of her whole outfit was her smile at me.

"You're gorgeous," I told her and I received an even bigger smile in appreciation of my compliment.

Sookie then looked at my naked chest, and after a wink, she said, "So are you." And then she proceeded to give me another quick kiss on my lips. "But I really must leave now. Lizzie's in the living room, watching TV. I left lasagna in the oven for her, and you guys will just have to warm it for 10 minutes, max. Okay?"

"Sure. Go and have fun at the party," I said. "But not _too _much fun, okay?" I added smiling, a second later, as an afterthought.

She smiled back at me and then she said, "The sun sets in almost an hour. You'll be okay here with Liz, right?"

I nodded and she smiled again. It was a Friday night. And Fridays were always big nights at the bars. But, one of the perks of being the owner was that I didn't have to work if I didn't want to. And staying at home, with Liz, was much better than dealing with the bars' problems or having to put up with vampire-excitement-starved humans.

Actually, for the past five years, since Natércia had come back for a… _last _time, I had taken much more time off. First of all, after Sookie and I finally bonded again, we then decided to go away, and we spent a whole week alone, just the two of us, in Los Angeles (Liz stayed with Pam then). And thank God we did it. Because we truly needed it.

Natércia's comeback had been dreadful to me. I had weakly kissed her and Sookie had almost left me then. And soon after it, Nat had told me that I had drunk from her when I was still a human. And, let me tell you, that was one hell of a blow to me. It made me question every-fucking-thing in my life. And that, added to the physical and psychological pain of her death, made me fucking lose my mind for a while. But, luckily, Sookie was able to both bring me back from my own personal hell, and forgive me for those out-of-mind moments. And even more than that, she _finally_ accepted our marriage and we bonded again,_ at last_.

And so, since then, we had gone away, just the two of us, at least once a year, for a whole week. But, of course, Liz then "demanded" a vacation away with her too; and that was why, we had also spent away, just the three of us, a couple of weeks each Easter and each summer.

And there, on my bed, with Sookie beside me, I smiled at myself, thinking about how everything had changed in my life since Sookie had come back to Shreveport almost eight years before. I had a woman that I loved by my side, and I was a father again. I was a family man now.

"Sure, we'll be alright," I answered.

"Even if I stay the night in Bon Temps, I'll be here tomorrow before lunch time."

"Okay. Don't worry. And now go, before I don't let you leave," I finally said, with a nice smile that was the total opposite of my predacious glare at her.

Sookie then kissed me again, and she left. And even though it was still day time, I got up all the same. I quickly showered and then I dressed. And as soon as the sun was setting, I was entering the living room where I saw a completely absorbed-in-the-TV Liz.

"Sugared Strawberries". _Obviously_. Recently, Liz had been obsessed with a TV show about a group of high school kids, who ran a small bar next to their school, where they served a very successful beverage made of… any guess? You're right: strawberries. Yeah. I know. Sixteen, seventeen-year-old kids running a bar? But, no matter how crazy and stupid the plot was, kids all around the country were fanatical about it.

In fact, the kid's craziness with the show was so great that last May, an outbreak of the so-dubbed "Sugared Strawberries' Virus" was reported in schools all over the country. Over 3000 students at 140 schools reported similar symptoms to those experienced by the characters in a then recent episode where a life-threatening virus affected the school depicted in the show. Symptoms of the "virus" included rashes, difficulty breathing, and dizziness. The perceived outbreak forced some schools to temporarily close. The National Institute for Medical Emergency eventually dismissed the illness as mass hysteria. And that outbreak raised the concern of many parents, Sookie and I included, regarding the major influence the series had on the kids and teens that watched it. The story was reported in newspapers and magazines everywhere for a while, but eventually, it lost its strength. But anyway, kids all around the country were _really_ passionate about the show.

And so was Liz.

We had had to buy "Sugared Strawberries" t-shirts, "Sugared Strawberries" mugs, "Sugared Strawberries" pens and notebooks, and every other single piece of merchandising that was available. And so had most parents across the country. It made me appreciate Pam's idea of merchandising our Fangtasia, Deadliest and Bloodbath's brands much more. Pam had truly been brilliant when she first suggested it. It was our main income fountain these days.

"How was school today?" I asked when I sat next to her on the couch.

"Yes," she mumbled.

_Yes._ Liz hadn't even heard what I had asked. I decided to try again. "So, did they tell you the swimming competition's schedule at last? At what time are you swimming?" Liz was a superb swimmer (unlike me; because yes, despite the fact that I didn't need to breath, I was a lousy swimmer). And we had asked her coach to put her in the latest time-table possible. That way, I'd be able to watch her, because it would be night already.

"Yeah," she said.

_Yeah_. She hadn't heard it any more that my "how was school" question. So I just kissed her forehead, and I left her alone for the next 25 minutes because I knew that I'd only have my daughter back after those dreadful "Sugared Strawberries" TV-show would end for the day.

And so I went to my office and I checked both my personal and my professional emails for a while. The bars were now an "oiled machine" and we had _finally_ found the right people for each position. Besides, with Pam's supervision, I now basically only needed to make sure that old-vampires turned out to each establishment more or less frequently. And that was it.

On the other hand, de Castro was visiting Louisiana less and less each year. And so, most vampires there truly regarded me as their King. And I had a somewhat considerable paperwork to deal with because of it. But because of my age, and the competent Sheriffs that I worked with, there were hardly any problems at all. And, luckily, I still managed to avoid most "upper levels" vampire interstate reunions.

I was engrossed in reading a news paper online about NY's new runner for Mayor: he was the first and most important vampire involved in human politics, when Nike and Reb (short of Reebok, our second, and I hoped _last_, dog) entered the room with Liz right behind them.

"Hey dad," she said as if we hadn't talked that night yet. And, well, I guess that a mumbled "yes" followed by a mumbled "yeah" couldn't really count as a tête-à-tête…

"Hey sweetheart," I answered her, and then I proceeded to have the conversation that I had failed to have before, "how was school today?"

She then told me about her teacher and her friends, and everything that had happened that day. I also asked about her swimming competition (she was indeed allowed to swim just after dark). And later, she told me how her ballet teacher, Ms Charlene, had told the class that they would start doing "_en pointe_" exercises soon. Because serious foot deformities could result from starting _pointe_ too early, Ms Charlene had told both the kids and their parents that they wouldn't begin dancing that way until after the age of twelve or thirteen; even though all the girls had been dying to try it for a while. But anyway, apparently, they'd start doing it soon and Liz was telling me how we'd have to buy her some particular type of ballet-shoes or ballet slippers, or whatever, that Liz kept talking about during the whole dinner time.

After dinner, we then went back to the living room, and we were both watching a game-show program when she suddenly said, "Dad…" And after my nod for her to continue, she then bluntly asked, "Do you and mom have sex?"

Hah? What? Liz was still twelve years old. She had no business asking about sex. Hell, she had no business _knowing_ about sex. I wanted her to be just like her mother: a 25-year-old virgin. Though I sure didn't want her to be with a vampire on her first time. Actually, ever. I didn't want her to be with a vampire _ever_. Or a were. Or a shifter. Or any man who didn't deserve her. Or some stupid teenager boy. Or… hell.

"What… who did… I mean, why are you asking about sex?"

"Helen and Ava were talking about it today at school. Helen's brother told her that their mom is having sex with her new boyfriend every night." Helen's parents had gotten divorced four or five years before.

"Oh…" I said, completely unsure of what to add after that un-intelligent sound. Why the hell would they be talking about sex? Helen's brother… The kid was three or four years older than the girls. It was expected that he'd know about sex by now. Damn him.

"So?" Liz said.

"So what?"

"Do you and mom have sex?" she asked again, and then added, "Every night?"

Uuhhh…

Nothing.

I couldn't thing of a bloody thing to answer her. I couldn't lie and tell her that we didn't. But I couldn't fucking tell Liz that we did it either. I… Uuhhh… Blank. There was a total blank in my mind at that moment. And where the fuck was Sookie? _She _should be the one having that conversation with Liz. I… Uuhhh…

"And do you bite mom?" she asked when she figured that I wouldn't immediately answer her previous question.

I swallowed. And I swear that I was sweating. Yes, I knew that I was a vampire and that our body did not do that. But I tell you: I_ was_ sweating. "Why… why do you ask that?"

"Helen's brother said that you did it _every night_. And that you and mom are probably very kinky in the bedroom," she answered me at easy. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "Dad?" she said just a few seconds later.

"Yes?" I told her back, dreading, _dreading_, her next question.

"What's kinky in the bedroom?"

Oh, for fuck's sake! I'd fucking scare the shit out of Helen's brother for that. The kid would start pissing in his bed at night again in fright after I'd be done with him. But, at least, he hadn't been too explicit. Otherwise, Liz would know what "kinky in the bed" was already.

"It's…" And then it hit me. I'd do what Sookie had done sometimes in the past. And what most parents across America would do. I would run away from my daughter's questions, change her focus into something else, and just… hope for the best; while, at the same time, praying that she'd turn out to be a responsible adult, and keep being a nice person. "It's a grown-ups matter," I answered proudly of my 'we-won't-talk-about-it-now' answer. And then I quickly added, "And did you know that "Sugary Strawberries" will be playing in Dallas next month?" Yes, the damned teenagers of the TV show had also recorded an album (that we had had to buy, obviously) and they would start a national tour in a couple of weeks.

Liz looked at me with a strange face, clearly displeased that I hadn't answered her query. But the eminent concert was a too-important issue for her to not alter her center of attention. "They will?"

"Yes, and mom and I have been talking that we could go there, the three of us, and that it could be your birthday's present? Would you like it?" Liz would be thirteen years old in a month and the concert in Dallas would be just a couple of days after her birthday.

She immediately smiled, and jumped on the couch, moving towards me, and hugging me in delight. "For real? Oh dad, for real-real? That's so great! That's… that's… Thank you dad! Thank you!"

"Yes, for real," I answered her.

"And can Ava and Helen go with us? Can they? Can we take them with us dad?" And… hell… It hadn't been the plan. And I sure didn't want to drive all the way to Dallas with those three in the back seat giggling and talking nonstop (and probably about "Sugared Strawberries"). But I was at a point where I would basically say "yes" to her any request, if that kept her away from asking me about sex.

"Of course they can. In fact, I think that you should go and call them both right now to tell them that," I said.

And when Liz left to call her friends, I knew that I was off the hook. Recently she and her friends had started spending more and more time on the phone with each other. I guess that her teenager years where really just around the corner.

I shivered in fear of those.

-x-

**Pam**

_All's well that ends well_. Shakespeare wrote the play, and he was damn right. And even though I was pretty sure that our end was still far away, everything had been going pretty well for the last ten years since Eric had killed that bitch Natércia. Her maker's reparation fee had been extremely expensive. But hell… money's made to be spent, right? So, as I was saying, things had been going pretty well since that bitch Natércia had died.

For one thing, Eric and Sookie had finally blood bonded again. Okay, it's true. The first time she drank his blood was not under the ideal circumstances. Or, from what I heard when I was at their front door of their former house, maybe it was. Hell, I don't know and I don't fucking care either. And, one way or the other, they soon moved away from that place, and they easily forgot that entire episode; and, since that first time, they started swapping blood regularly. And in… well, _better_ circumstances, I suppose. Eric, of course, loved their bond immediately. But, right from the start, Sookie loved it as well. And now, ten years later, their blood bond was stronger than ever and they both felt very well about it and the feelings that flow between them.

And you know me: I was absolutely against feelings, and bondings, and… shit like that. But not for Eric and Sookie. She had once told me they were soul mates. And she was _married_ to her _bear_ when she said it. But you know what? I think she was right! They _are _soul-mates. And no matter how "theoretically perfect" Nat was for Eric (because they were both very old vampires and with similar natures) or how "good on paper" the bear was for Sookie (because he'd be able to get old with her, and play in the sun and… whatever); yes, that didn't matter, because the truth was that my maker and his part-fairy really _are_ soul-mates.

And speaking about the bear… Elizabeth's father used to appear once or twice a month at the beginning. But he died ten or eleven years ago in some stupid were dispute and since then Eric has definitely taken the "father role". And that is so, so, so funny.

I used to tease Eric about Sookie like… twenty years ago, _way_ before the whole "marriage by knife" fiasco that had freaked Sookie out and made her run away and blah, blah, blah… So, I used to tease him about Sookie; and it was great.

But teasing him about Liz?

Way, way better!

I mean: can you imagine? Eric collecting awful drawings of a 5-year old? And saying (and believing) that they were the ultimate art form? Or Eric teaching geography to an 11-year old? And discussing with her history teacher about what it was like in the middle ages? And what about Eric driving Lizzie and a couple more 14-year old girls to the mall? And waiting there so he could drive them back? Priceless!

And now, recently, I've been teasing him about his fatherly worries. And what does Eric worry about? Well, he worries about Lizzie's 18-year-old boyfriend.

"He's 18!" He screamed when he found out that they were dating six or seven months ago. "She's only 17! He's too old for her. No. No. I won't allow it," he kept saying, and saying, and saying. And wasn't it funny? Well, it was ironic, at least. Eric was more than _ten hundred years_ older than Sookie but he was freaking out because Lizzie was dating a _ten months _older boy. It was precious. It was teasing material as never before.

Eric, Sookie and I were in their living room. But despite the fact that I really wanted to give them one of my "pearls of wisdom", as Eric called it, I just kept my mouth shut. Eric looked too pissed off at that moment.

Lizzie (who both Eric and I could hear crying upstairs in her bedroom) had just told us about some Samuel kid. And she had said that he was her boyfriend, and so she wanted him to go to their house and have dinner with her parents, so they'd meet him. And Eric just… he freaked out, and then he just screamed at her to go to her bedroom, after he told her that she wouldn't be allowed to even see that Samuelagain_. Ever_ again. Sookie, on the other hand, was behaving better to the news, and she tried to calm him. Though she wasn't being successful at it.

"Boys that age…. They… they have ideas," Eric said, "And they want things from nice girls like Liz. And I won't allow it. I just… won't. She's barely seventeen years old."

"Exactly," Sookie answered him, "she's seventeen. She's already a young woman, Eric."

And then Eric almost shivered. "He's still too old for her," he told her.

"Are _you_ too old for me?"

"That has absolutely nothing to do with Liz. The boy is too old. He'll… he'll… I won't allow it. I know what boys that age think."

"And here I was, thinking that _I_ was the telepath," Sookie answered him, crossing her arms at her chest before she told him to sit by her side. Up until then, Eric had been walking from one side of the living room to the other. But then he sat next to Sookie. She then grabbed one of his hands between hers, and then she added, "Listen, it confuses me too. The idea that Liz is growing up… But she is. And we must let her grow. Besides, I've checked her mind, she thinks that she's not ready to have sex yet and she has even decided that she'll wait until…"

Eric immediately got up again from the couch and he started walking from side to side again. The words "Liz" and "sex" in the same sentence were too much for him.

"Sookie, I do not care. The boy… he'll want to… do _things_ with Liz. I won't allow it."

But, of course, no matter how much he had yelled that he wouldn't allow Liz to date her boyfriend, he had to consent to it. Because, in fact, there was nothing he could do to prevent the kids from dating. Yes, he could have told her that she was only allowed to be at home or at school; but they would have found a way to be together, nonetheless. And that "solution" would only make Liz resent him, and I'm sure that Eric wouldn't want that! And, of course, there was also the other "route": threatening Samuel. And believe me; Eric _did_ threaten the boy as much as he could. But it didn't work because Samuel hadn't been afraid enough to run. And so they kept dating.

And why didn't he run? Well, Samuel's father was a strong warlock and he knew a lot about the supernatural's world. And Samuel, besides studying Economics and Business, was also his father's apprentice. And so he knew a little about the supernatural world too. And he knew about Eric's reputation as a sane and conscious sheriff. And Samuel trusted that Eric wouldn't hurt or kill him unless he was to cause Liz any harm.

Besides, the kids loved each other.

And you know what? Elizabeth had even been accepted to Samuel's college. And so, come September, they'd be studying at the same place. I wondered if Eric would let them be room-mates? Probably not!

So… what had been happening for the last months at Eric's? Well, it was always the same routine: the kids would kiss each other on the lips, Eric would see them kissing, and then Eric would almost scream for them to stop doing that, but then Liz would kiss Samuel even harder while Sookie would try to make Liz stop and Eric stay calm. And I would laugh. And it was really so funny.

It was fucking hilarious.

And, like I said, ironic too.

The thing is: Sookie had always said that she wanted the "white picket fence" normal life. And that was ultimately what made her run away in the first place. She had run away from us, vampires, because she had wanted to be "normal" and have a conventional family life. But then… Look at her now. She was living it. She was living her "white picket fence" normal life. And with a vampire! Yes, she _was_ living it alright. Why? Because that sort of arguments and "father's reaction when he meets the daughter's first boyfriend" was as normal and as "white-picket-fenc_ed_" as it could be.

And so, the kids kept dating and Eric and Sookie kept trying to come to terms with the fact that their child wasn't a child anymore.

That was probably the reason why they had been talking about it, you know? The "Sookie becoming a vampire" issue. Last that I heard, was "when Liz graduates and gets a job" but what did I know? They'd probably postpone for as long as they could… And why wouldn't they? Sookie was aging, yes. But much slower than a regular human.

And now you are wondering: why was she aging slower? Who the fuck knew? It might have been because of her 1/8th fairy blood. Or her strong essential spark. "Perfect", Niall used to call it. Or Eric's blood. Or none of the above. Or all of it. Or maybe she was just a freaking fluke of nature. We didn't know. We just knew that she was indeed aging slower. As a matter of fact, since she had come back to Louisiana again, she really hadn't aged much at all.

She was what? 47? 48 now? And I couldn't tell what she looked like (too many years as a vampire would do that to you) but Liz used to tell me that her mom looked like a 32 or 33-year-old woman. Either way, I didn't care. And I would bet Eric didn't care either so… They'd do it when they felt up for it.

"You ready auntie?" Liz asked from the stairs.

"I've been waiting for you for ages, Liz," I answered her when she kissed my cheek.

"Sorry, sorry! I was talking in the phone with Samuel about his brother's party and he said that DeeAnn will meet us there with the cake and…"

"Pam is driving you there right now Elizabeth," Eric interrupted. Ouch! "Elizabeth" and not Liz or Lizzie meant only one thing: Eric was _not_ happy. He then continued: "I'd think you could spend thirty minutes without talking to that boyfriend of yours, young lady!"

"Yes daddy," she said while she sat in his lap and kissed his cheek. He melted in one second.

"Okay, then. Go on. And Lizzie: you know the drill – be safe and be smart. I don't want you in a car if the driver has been drinking. I don't care if it was only one beer. You call home and we'll get you. I know it's his brother's birthday and you are all meeting your friends and having a good time, but Lizzie…"

"I know dad: be safe and be smart," she said interrupting him. And after a smile and a sigh, she added, "Can I go now, please? Poor auntie Pam has been waiting for me…"

"Yes, poor auntie Pam," Eric said with sarcasm dripping as a fountain. "And yes, you can go after you give me another kiss and you say goodnight to your mom. She's in her office."

"Okay, okay, okay…." She said when she kissed him again. She then ran upstairs to talk to Sookie and then we left.

When we arrived, there were already two mini-vans full of kids waiting. And one of the kids, a very short, 5'1, dark-haired girl, probably the DeeAnn that Liz had talked about, was indeed there, with a humongous cake. And then, after another round of "be safe, drive slowly, take care" from me and Gustav, Samuel's dad, they left.

"So… pretty vamp," Gustav said while grabbing me, or, more specifically, my ass. "Will you wait for Lizzie here? Their curfew tonight it at 4 am. You know… being Joe's birthday and all…" He then proceeded to kiss me and I answered him with my kiss and my arms around his neck.

Of course I would stay.

That night was our anniversary too. Four months.

My last relationship that had lasted for four months had been in the 1990's. And my last relationship that had lasted four months with a man had been in the 1950's. But Gustav was great. And I was happy with him. I had met Gustav half a year before, when Lizzie had asked me to drive her to her boyfriend's house. "Dad's completely mad. He says that I can only see Samuel at our place. And that sucks. I want to be with my boyfriend in a room without my father in it, Aunt Pam…" Liz told me one night.

Trying to not smile at Lizzie's predicament, I then asked: "Why don't you drive there yourself?" She had had her driver's license for almost a year then, since she was 16.

"Dad checks the miles in my car. Please Aunt Pam, please," she answered.

Eric checked the miles in her car. Eric. Checked. The miles. In her car. Oh, my God! Eric checked the miles in her car! Precious! That was amazing. He was really crazy with that entire "Liz has a boyfriend" situation.

But, either way, who could say "no" to Liz when her request was so reasonable? She just wanted to be with her boyfriend without her 1000-year-old father there. And so I started driving her to Samuel's house. And that was how I met Gustav. And now, we were "an item", as Liz and Samuel used to call us. And you know what? I was really happy with that.

And Liz and Samuel were also happy that we had been together, obviously. Since I had started dating Gustav and I got to know Samuel's dad better, Eric had bombarded me with questions about Samuel and his family. And after a few _huge _questionnaires, Eric started to trust the boy and calmed down a little bit. Do you want to know what I thought? I thought that Eric actually liked Samuel. And common… It was _way_ better to be dating a warlock's apprentice (but _human_ boy) than a were. Or a fairy. Or even a vampire. Eric was just… you know: Lizzie's dad. He was only playing the part.

And so, like both William Shakespeare and I had said: all's well that ends well. Eric and Sookie were still strong, Lizzie was with her first boyfriend, and even I was dating a new guy. There was drama; there were problems; there were arguments. But we all managed to deal with everything and still be happy.

Oh, and I almost forgot: guess who was dating as well? Bill! Oh, and he was still one of Sookie's best friends. And that still bothered Eric to no end (and that meant even more laughing for me). But… What was I saying? Oh, yeah, right: Bill was dating. And you just won't believe with whom. Any ideas? Thalia! Yeah, no bullshit. Seriously! Thalia. Who'd guess that? But apparently, when she gave him his blood almost 20 years ago when he was recovering from silver poisoning after the Fae attack, they started fucking. But just as fuck-buddies. Until they've decided to give it a go. And so they've been dating. Two years now. And counting…

Anyway, I went to my car and I took my bag with my shampoo, creams and other stuff, from the back seat because I knew that I'd spend the night there and I'd want to shower before I'd drive Liz back home later that night. And I had just closed the house's front door when I heard his t-shirt and his zipper. I immediately ran to his bedroom upstairs. I knew that Gustav was already almost naked and… well, you know… there were things to be done.

And a little over an hour later, when Gustav told me, for the first time ever, that he loved me, even without thinking about it, I told him that I loved him to. And you know what? I did.

-x-

**Sookie**

Eric had decided that he'd take the next month (the _whole_ month) off work. That is, starting the next night, he wouldn't go to the bars nor deal with any Louisiana business. For four weeks, it would be just the two of us. And so, for the last few nights he had been working overtime so he wouldn't be bothered later. And I had used that "free time" (free from Eric, that is) to spend some time with my older friends.

I had woken up a little after eight in the morning, on the previous day, and after a quick shower, I had immediately driven to Bon Temps. I went to Merlotte's and there I was able to be with most of my friends because I stayed there for a few hours, and I even had lunch there (the one and only, and forever my favorite, Lafayette Burger; Lafayette Reynolds had died almost thirty years before, but Sam's cooks still had the old recipe, and I'd always loved that sauce).

Anyway, later that day, I arrived at Gran's when it wasn't 5 pm yet. Tom, Jason's oldest son, had been living at Gran's, with his wife and his three daughters, since the youngest girl had been born, a couple of years before. But no matter what he had changed in the property, it would always be Gran's to me.

I quickly kissed the whole family, and then I left to the lawn. Tom had already left a garden-chair there for me, similar to a chaise lounge, and so, after I took Gran's old quilt from the trunk of my car, I sat in the same place where I had spent hundreds of afternoons tanning in my teenager and early twenties years. And I watched, alone, the sun-set from my favorite place in the whole world. And it was beautiful.

The season cast an orange haze above the horizon, lighting up the sky as if lit by fire, yet the haze was so crisp and clear. The sun, like a large, grandeur orange fireball in the distance was partially cloaked by the hanging clouds, which were all splashed with the random colours of hot pinks, reds and even hints of purples and blues. The sun which had had it's time to shine for the time it was given, seemed to whisper "farewell" to the world as it sunk lower and lower in a lazy manner; almost as if it never wanted to leave. And I could not stop myself from thinking how the very thing that gave warmth, life, light and happiness to so many could just as easily cause utter destruction. That fact reminded her of Eric and how just a single sun ray would burn him. However, it was still beautiful.

And a couple of hours after I had sat there, I left my garden-chair and I went inside the house. Jason (who had just become a divorcee _again_) and Alex (Jason's younger son) were already there, and we had a huge dinner as a family. And during that whole night, I missed Liz. She was family too, of course, and seeing Jason with his kids and grand-kids, made me miss her even more. But I knew that she was in New York with Samuel, and that they both loved to live there and their jobs. Besides, both Eric and I had spent a few days in Manhattan on the previous month, and I had talked to Liz extensively about everything. And it had taken a while, but I had finally understood that Liz, at 25 years old, was already an adult. And _much_ more mature than I had been at her age. Jeez! I really was just a kid when I first met Bill. How I even managed to survive with my ingenuity in the middle of all those cunning vampires, was only testament to my lucky-star.

And then, after we had had our desert, I left my family and I walked the short distance to Bill's. He was already expecting me, and it was great to spend almost an hour there, with him and Thalia, talking about old times. On my way back to Gran's, I stopped at the cemetery and I spoke to the rest of my family there. And later that night, I went back to Jason's and I slept there. Now that the boys were already adults with their own houses, Jason had an extra bedroom that I used.

I spent the next morning at Tara's Togs, and I bought a very sexy outfit there. I wanted to be in my best later that night. We had lunch together and then I drove back. I arrived at Shreveport just a little after 3pm and I immediately went to my hairdresser's salon. I first had a wonderful massage, whose point was to moisturize my skin, and then I did my nails and my toes. And almost two hours later, I was finally in Immanuel's chair.

Immanuel was a young man, maybe twenty-one, and thin to the point of emaciation. His hair was dyed blue and cut in an extremely geometric way, rather as if he'd put a box on his head, knocked it sideways, then trimmed around the edges. What didn't fit inside the lines had been shaved. But no matter how he looked, he was a great hairdresser. And that was the important thing.

And after he had washed my hair, he asked me what I wanted to do that day. And I just answered him that I wanted to keep it as long as possible and just cut the split ends.

"You know what? You should cut a fringe here…" he suggested, "It's very fashionable this year. And it'll grow by next year, if you don't like to see yourself that way."

But there wouldn't be next year. Or, better yet, there would, but my hair wouldn't have grown by then. In fact, it would stay pretty much as I'd have it that exact day. And even though I might like the fringe, I wasn't willing to use it forever.

"No. Let's keep somewhat the same hairstyle, but I want a side-part instead of a center part. I think that my husband will like that."

"Are you sure? He might like the fringe too…" he said.

I smiled at the mirror and I saw the happiness in my mirrored face that I felt inside of me. And then I answered Immanuel the exactly three sentences that I would, later that night, answer Eric when he'd ask me _again_ if I really wanted to become a vampire that night.

"I've really thought about this. I really want it. And I am absolutely sure of it," I said with as much certainty in my voice as it was possible.

And you know what? I really was. And an even-more-nervous-than-me Eric _would_ really make me a vampire that night. And I couldn't be happier about it. And, I'm sure, he couldn't either. And the best part of all that was that we had both thought about it for a long time (20 years long time), and we had talked to everyone who mattered about it. And there were no more worries or doubts. Or, maybe, I still had one worry, in that moment. But my only fear was that Eric wouldn't love my side-part haircut. Though I was almost sure that he would at least like it, I wanted him to _love_ my hairstyle. Because it would stay that way. Always and forever.

-x-

**Elizabeth**

I had never thought that I'd marry. In fact, it never meant a thing to me. Mom and dad had never actually married and they had been happy together for 25 years, whereas she had married my biological father, and they had divorced a few years later. So, no, a wedding had never been something critical for me. Not to Samuel. And so, you can't even imagine my surprise when on my 30th birthday, my boyfriend for the last 13 years asked me to marry him. And he had organized a romantic dinner, and he dropped on his knee, and he had the ring and everything else. And, somehow, he managed to make me answer him "yes". And I came to regret that answer as nothing else in my life. And why? Because it nearly ended my until-then-perfect relationship with Samuel.

Well, I had always known how people planning weddings were stressed out. I just never knew why. Not how much. But I was about to find out. And between money (though dad insisted that he wanted to pay for everything, I still tried to keep it under the same budget that I'd have if we were paying for our own wedding), time (between my job and Samuel's, we had very little free time; and then, from one moment to another, we had all our free time occupied with choosing the flowers, the food, the color of the chairs, and so on, and so on), and general expectations, Samuel and I were soon ready to pull out our hair at one point or another. And exactly two months before our wedding ceremony, I freaked out and I left my house without uttering a single word to my fiancé. _Fiancé. _Don't you just hate that word?

And two hours later, I was at La Gardia, catching a flight to Shreveport with a stop at Memphis International. And luckily, we landed right before sun set. And so, as soon as the taxi driver parked the car in front of my parent's driveway, I saw both mom and dad immediately showing up right next to me, with him paying the guy and taking my bag from the back seat of the car, and mom immediately hugging me and asking me what was wrong. And despite mom's cold touch (that I wasn't yet used to despite the fact that she had been a vampire for the past five years), I suddenly felt that I was finally at home and that I could let everything fall to pieces, because they'd both be there for me no matter what. And that was when I started crying.

"What happened Liz? What happened? Are you okay sweetheart?" mom asked and I felt like crying even more. I loved when she called me sweetheart; it reminded me of when I was a kid and my only worries were my toys and my friends.

I then felt dad's arms around as both and I heard his voice saying that we should go inside. And so, I walked the short driveway distance and the three of us were soon sitting on the big couch, with mom at my right and dad at my left side. And that was when mom asked again what had happened.

"It's Samuel," I mumbled.

"Did he hurt you somehow? What the hell did he do?" dad asked immediately.

"Eric!" mom reprimanded him. I had lost count of how many times I'd heard her use that tone with him. Especially regarding Samuel, though I knew that deep down, dad liked him.

"I don't want to marry him," I whispered.

"Why? Tell me Liz. What the hell did he do? I'll tear him apart if he laid one finger to you."

"Eric! Let her speak," mom said to him before she touched my face, cleaning my tears with her now always cold fingers, while asking, "What is it sweetheart? Why don't you want to marry him anymore? Has something happened? Does Samuel know that you're here?"

And despite the fact that I didn't answer her, mom saw in my mind that I had left without telling him, and so she told me to at least text him so he wouldn't be worried about me. And after I turned on my cell phone and I saw Samuel's long list of missing calls and text messages, I did text him saying that I was okay and in Shreveport, and that I'd call him later, right before I turned the phone off again.

And then we talked. And I explained to them, especially dad, how Samuel hadn't done me any wrong. It was just the whole wedding-related stress, on top of all the work stress and the eminent change in our relationship status. Samuel had been my first boyfriend. And even though he wasn't my first kiss, he was my-first pretty much everything else. More than that: he was my first and only. And we had basically grown up together as boyfriend and girlfriend. And I was obviously scared of changing that.

And that was when mom told me something that had never even crossed my mind. I mean: until that night, and up to my knowledge, mom and dad had met and they had been friends when mom was young and single, way before she had met my biological father. And I had always thought that only _after_ mom and daddy had gotten a divorce, did Eric come into the picture. But, apparently, I was wrong.

And so mom told me how they had been together before, but that she had freaked out and had run away from him. To Tennessee. Where she eventually married to another man and had me. And despite not regretting it because I had been born because of that "detour", as she called it, she assured me that she had never stopped loving dad, and that it had hurt them both those years apart.

Wow! Who would have thought of that? I was completely thunderstruck. But then, when I asked what had ultimately freaked her out, and then I found myself even more astounded and speechless when she said that it had been after their wedding.

Ah! What?

And they kept telling me their story. They told me how dad had tricked mom to drink his blood when she was dating Bill (mom had dated Bill? Thalia's Bill? Thalia's boring-as-death Bill?), and also how they had somehow gotten over their misconceptions about each other when mom took care of dad when he was amnesiac (hah? Dad lost him memories? He was weak and he had needed a human's help? Could it be?). And they told me about being the target of bombs, and other attacks, and how they had survived all that together. And finally, they told me about their… marriage.

And apparently, it had been a simple wedding ceremony, with just one other vampire there. Well, in fact, it hadn't even been a wedding ceremony _per se. _Mom had been regularly dressed, as well as dad, who had been wearing a green t-shirt so bright that made him look whiter than ever, or so mom said. And they only exchanged a valuable object and some words. And that was that. Well, at least that was what they told me that night.

And then it hit me. I could do the same. Samuel and I could avoid all the wedding-stress and just marry somewhere, with just our close friends and family. It didn't have to be the big thing that we had been planning for five months. It could be a small, intimate ceremony. And ultimately, the important thing there was us. I immediately left the couch, I grabbed my phone and I called Samuel. And after a few minutes, it was decided, we'd do it simple-small-style.

And so, two months later, we found ourselves, signing the official papers at Shreveport's City Hall before my parents, his father and Pam (who used to date more than a decade before, but who were only very good friends now), uncle Jason, Joe (Samuel's brother) and his wife, and four close friends from New York (who got very grossed and a little scared when they saw dad and auntie Pam's bloodied happy tears; they had both been teasing mom that she'd cry, but she showed them and she was actually the only vampire there that didn't cry).

And later that night, when everyone left mom and dad's (we had had a dinner-party there), and I left it too with my new husband (don't you just love that word?), I heard dad telling mom how happy he was for me, and that he loved her, right before she told him the same. And Samuel and I had just entered our car when I saw my parents through the window. With the dark night outside, and the lights inside turned-on, you could see everything perfectly, just like if it was a TV. I grabbed Samuel's hand and I made him look so he'd see them as well. And that was when I heard him whispering in my ear, "I want us to dance together and look at each other just like that, with that much love, for at least the next 50 years." I turned back from my parents, who were dancing and completely focused on each other, like they were the only two people on Earth, and I answered my husband, "Always."

~ The End ~

* * *

_***sniff sniff* **_**Almost crying here. **

**So, this is it folks! At least, for now. I really hope you've enjoyed reading this story. And please review one last time so I can know what you thought about it. Ohh, and I'm already trying to think of a new story (what can I say? I'm addicted now!). However, I'll be taking a few weeks off before I start writing it. Anyway, thanks for reading! Take care! Célia**

**Jon Bon Jovi has a song called "The End" and that would be the perfect title to my last chapter. But I couldn't resist to naming this "Always", which is, without a doubt, a great Bon Jovi song. It was released as a single from their 1994 album, Cross Road**,** and went on to become their best selling single, with 1.5 million copies sold in the U.S. and more than 3 million worldwide (I bought one!). The music video featured actors Jack Noseworthy and Jason Wiles and actresses Carla Gugino and Keri Russell. **

**It starts this way: **_**"This Romeo is bleeding / But you can't see his blood / It's nothing but some feelings / That this old dog kicked up / It's been raining since you left me / Now I'm drowning in the flood / You see I've always been a fighter / But without you I give up / I can't sing a love song / Like the way it's meant to be / Well, I guess I'm not that good anymore / But baby, that's just me / And I will love you, baby - Always / And I'll be there forever and a day - Always / I'll be there till the stars don't shine / Till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme / And I know when I die, you'll be on my mind / And I'll love you – Always"**_


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